22 April 2010

Should New Zealand Have Its Own Section On The Poetry International Web?

I've been looking through this week's Tuesday Poems, and thinking about poems - mine and others' - I plan to post on forthcoming Tuesdays.

While doing this, I visited the Poetry International Web. Poetry International is a significant organisation: it organises the annual Poetry International Festival in Rotterdam, and it maintains a website with many poems, articles, videos and news.

The website is organised into national sections, each overseen by a national editor, each with its own wealth of material. Australia has a national section; so does Zimbabwe - a particularly impressive one - and Lithuania, and Croatia.

But there is no national section for Aotearoa/New Zealand, presumably because we don't have a national editor. I think that's a pity. So I'm wondering, would it be good if we did have a national section, and if so, how could this be brought about?

The Poetry International FAQ includes a list of the requirements for a national editor, and they are not insignificant. But is there anyone out there who meets those criteria and would be willing to take on the job?

3 comments:

Kay Cooke said...

A great idea ... now to find the editor ... Sorry I am unable, but I am sure there's someone out there ...

Helen said...

hmmm, that's quite a big job, perhaps a current or past lit mag ed?

Tim Jones said...

It needs to be someone with editorial experience and probably institutional support, as I don't think it's a paid role. C'mon, New Zealand, if we can win the Rugby Word Cup, we can do this too!

Oh, hang on a minute...