A Wonder-Filled, Fun Journey Through Time And Space

Linda Addison's review of Voyagers has appeared in Issue 109 of Space and Time Magazine. It's short, but so sweet that I'm quoting it here in its entirety:

Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand, edited by Mark Pirie and Tim Jones (Interactive Press, The Literature Series) contains 152 pages of poetry by various authors; a wonder-filled, fun journey through time and space. From ‘the poetry of the future’ by Anna Rugis; to ‘lumbering space cruisers’ from Bill Sewell; and ‘Dreams of Alien Love’ from Dana Bryce. There are too many to quote here, buy the book and off you’ll go.

Thank you, Linda! If you haven't yet embarked on this exciting journey, there are lots of ways you can do so:

• Directly from me (within NZ). I now have a limited number of copies for sale for $28 plus $2 p&p. If you'd like one, please email senjmito@gmail.com with your address and preferred payment method.


• From an increasing range of bookshops. Unity Books (Wellington and Auckland), Bruce MacKenzie Books in Palmerston North, Madras Cafe Books in Christchurch, and the University Book Shop in Dunedin all have copies, or can take your order if stock has run out.


• From the publisher.


• From Amazon.com (in paperback and Kindle e-book formats).


• From Fishpond.


• From New Zealand Books Abroad.


• From Small Press Distribution in the USA.

Fallen / Niedergang

A couple of years ago, a poem from my first collection, Boat People, was selected for inclusion in Wildes Licht, an anthology of New Zealand poetry with German translations, edited by Dieter Riemenschneider.

I was pleased not only because it always feels good to have work anthologised, but also because I have an interest in literary translation, and a particular liking for books which have the original on one page and the translation on the facing page.

Subsequently, however, due to a change in publishing arrangements, the manuscript had to be shortened, and mine was one of the poems cut. I was disappointed about this, but since Mark Pirie and I had undergone exactly the same process while finding a publisher for Voyagers, I recognised that this is just one of the realities of the publishing process.

Dieter was kind enough to send me the translation of "Fallen" that would have appeared in "Wildes Licht", and give me permissions to publish it here. The print version has some indentation which didn't work well online, but that apart, here are "Fallen" and its German translation, "Niedergang".

Fallen

Driving through Mandeville. Empty windows, empty houses,
a craft shop sprung like fungus from the bones of the dying town.

The cenotaph stands roadside. Blunt, unwearied,
it commends to our attention the names of the anxious dead.

They grew, these Southland towns, on the graves
of the children of Tane. Mandeville, Riversdale -
Myross Bush, Ryal Bush, Gummies‘ …

the land groaned with the weight of their money.
As the tribes were pushed to the margins, fat lambs
grew fatter. Knives flashed cold on the chains;
eels tumbled and writhed over offal.

Now, thistles nod in the hard-pan fields. Children
are a letter from the city, a ten-hour drive at Easter.
The wealth
went with them. No mirror glass monuments here.

But the Council keeps the graveyard clean; and our dust
settles impartially
on the sign: “Country Crafts - Buy Here!”
and the sign that their dead live on, and will do so, chiselled in stone,
till new trees and new ferns drag them down.

Niedergang

Eine Fahrt durch Mandeville. Hohle Fenster, leere Häuser,
ein Kunstgewerbeladen wie ein Pilz aus den Knochen der sterbenden Stadt entsprungen.

Das Ehrenmal am Straßenrand. Plump, unermüdlich
empfiehlt es uns, sich der Namen der Toten zu erinnern.

Sie wuchsen, diese Südlandstädte, auf den Gräbern
der Kinder Tanes. Mandeville, Riversdale –
Myross Bush, Ryal Bush, Gummies’ …
das Land stöhnte unter der Last ihres Geldes.
Während die Stämme an den Rand gedrängt wurden,
setzten fette Lämmer mehr Fett an. Messer blitzten kalt an den Ketten;
Aale wandten und stürzten sich auf die Innereien.

Jetzt nicken Disteln auf den pfannentrockenen Feldern. Kinder
sind ein Brief aus der Stadt, eine Zehnstundenfahrt an
Ostern. Der Wohlstand
zog mit ihnen fort. Keine Spiegelglassdenkmäler hier.

Doch der Stadtrat hält den Friedhof sauber; und unser Staub
senkt sich unbefangen
auf das Schild 'Einheimisches Kunstgewerbe –
hier zu kaufen!' und das Schild, dass die Toten weiter leben und weiter leben werden,
in Stein gemeisselt,
bis neue Bäume
und Farn sie niederziehen werden.

IP Picks and Landfall Sings

Here's a couple of items of market information I thought were well worth sharing: a competition for unpublished manuscripts from Australia and New Zealand, and submission details for the next issue of Landfall: the Music issue, to be edited by Bill Direen.

Part 1: IP Picks

Interactive Press (IP), the publishers of Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand, hold an annual competition for unpublished manuscripts in five categories. This year, the competition is open to New Zealanders as well as Australians.

The basic details are below. For more, including details of the winners from 2009 and previous years, and the download links for the entry form etc, please see IP Picks.


IP Picks: Writing Competition for Unpublished Manuscripts

Now looking ahead to its ninth year in 2010 the IP Picks Awards provide guaranteed royalty publication to the best book-length manuscript in five categories: Best Fiction, Best Creative Non-fiction, Best Poetry, Best Junior Fiction or Non-fiction, Best First Book.

First Place Winners of each category are awarded pulication. Highly Commended entrants are given a short reader's report valued at $249, offering editorial advice on how to improve the manuscript. Commended entrants will receive a summary of the judging panel's report on their entries. There is no guarantee of publication for Highly Commended or Commended entrants.

The competition is open to citizens and residents of Australia and New Zealand.

The Fiction category is for manuscripts up to 80,000 words and can include short story collections, short novels and novels written for young adults and/or adults. Any form of fiction is eligible, including science fiction and fantasy. [TJ's emphasis]

The Creative Non-fiction category is also for manuscripts up to 80,000 words based on real-life experience and research, but written with literary flair. Biographies, memoirs, travel literature, histories, creative non-fiction for young adults and inspirational self-help books are examples.

New this year, the Junior Fiction and Non-fiction category seeks manuscripts up to 60,000 words. Novels or creative non-fiction works intended for audiences twelve and under are welcome. Picture books are not eligible.

The Poetry category is for complete collections in any sub-genre, including verse novels, verse plays, special forms such as haiku, or a a mixture of forms.

The Best First Book can be in any genre (Young Adult and older), but the author must not have previously had a book-length manuscript (48 A5 pages or longer) published by a recognised national publisher. Authors who have self-published with only local distribution are eligible to enter under this category. There is no age restriction, but if you are under eighteen years of age, you must have a parent or carer co-sign your entry form.

You may enter a single manuscript in two categories, but you have to pay two entry fees.

How Is It Judged?

IP Picks entries are adjudicated in-house by our Editorial Board.

Each entry is blind read by at least two judges. The judges first form a long-list of entries through a ranking system adjudicated by our genre editors. Next, the Board compares entries on their lists and compiles a short list from the rankings. The short-listed entries are read again by the Board, which, at that stage, includes the Director. Finally the Board meets to decide the winners and commended entries. At that meeting, the Board may also recommend that the Director offer publication to certain of the commended entries.

We then contact the winners and commended entrants and post the results on our website in IP eNews, our online newsletter, as well as circulating the results to all State writers centres.

Deadlines and Fees

IP Picks opens on 1 October and closes on 1 December each year. Entry packages must include:
- two printed copies and one digital (on CD or floppy disk) copy of the entry (if you are entering in more than one category, you only need to submit two printed copies and one digital copy to cover both categories).
- a completed entry form - type or print in block letters
- the applicable fee

Download the required Conditions and Entry form in Word format or as a pdf file for further details on the submission procedure and to enter the competition. If you have trouble downloading the form [Adobe Acrobat Reader® required], email us for a copy, or send a self-addressed stamped envelope to IP, Treetop Studio, 9 Kuhler Court, Carindale 4152.

We charge a reading fee, currently set at $66 per entry. This must be included as a cheque or money order, with your entry. Included in the reading fee is an IP title of your choice. If you enter more than one category, you must pay a fee for each entry, and for that you receive an extra title of your choice.

At the time of submission you may also ask to have a short report written on the publishability of your manuscript. The fee for that report is $199 GST-inclusive, or $169 for students or concession card holders (must provide photocopy of student card or concession card).

Part 2: Landfall Sings

Landfall 219
The NZ Music Issue
Guest edited by Bill Direen

New Zealand music has been made with electric guitars, European orchestral instruments, laptops, bones, voices, skin, wood, pvc piping, air, magnetic tape and digital media. For this special Music issue, the editor is seeking work that demonstrates the essential cultural value of music and ways of making it in New Zealand. The musical aspect of poetry – phrasing, timing and the insinuation of meaning during performance – is an aspect that creative writers might respond to. Musical aspects of prose – alliterative and rhythmical or structural devices – may carry meaning quite as much as syntactical ones. Also sought are publications on New Zealand music for review, reviews of performances and readings, and writings related to the experience of listening, and especially writing that may consider the role of NZ music and ways of making it in a wider context.

Bill Direen grew up in the sixties surrounded by music and poetry of all sorts, classical, cultural, liturgical, radio pop and solid state rock. He studied electronic music under Douglas Lilburn before concentrating on literature (M.A. Hons, Canterbury University) and developing an independent career as writer and musician.

Landfall 219 will be published May 2010. Submission deadline: January 10 2010. Submissions to: Landfall, Otago University Press, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand. Email correspondence (no submissions, please) to: landfall (at) otago.ac.nz

Seminar: Electric Vehicles and Electric Transport in New Zealand: 2010 and Beyond

The Annual General Meeting of the Sustainable Energy Forum (SEF) on 6 November will mark the end of my three-year term as Convenor of SEF. While I've enjoyed the role, I'm looking forward to being able to spend more time working directly on the issues, and less time organising things.

But the final thing I have to organise is the seminar below. SEF held a similar seminar in 2007, and the 2009 seminar will look at how far things have moved in the world of electric transport since then, and whether those moves are welcome.

You don't have to be an expert, or a fan of electric vehicles, to attend. Pretty much everyone has an opinion on transport. If you do, or if you'd just like to learn more, please come along.

Sustainable Energy Forum Seminar

Electric Vehicles and Electric Transport in New Zealand: 2010 and Beyond

When: Friday 6 November, 12.30-2pm

Where: Large Gallery, Turnbull House, 11 Bowen St, Wellington

Admission: By koha

Can we switch our transport system from burning fossil fuels to using electricity? If so, how quickly will it happen, and how much difference will it make to New Zealand's oil dependence and to greenhouse gas emissions from transport?

The Sustainable Energy Forum (SEF) is holding a seminar in Wellington on Friday 6 November to talk about these issues. Speakers will discuss developments in electric vehicle technology, the opportunities and difficulties in marketing electric vehicles, and the effect that widespread use of electric transport is likely to have on New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions.

There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion.

If you're interested in transport, vehicle technology, green jobs, oil depletion, or climate change, you'll find something of interest in this SEF Seminar.

Presentations

Tim Jones: Using Electricity for Transport: An Overview
Seminar chair Tim Jones will make a brief introductory presentation outlining the range of electric transport options now available.

Doug Clover: Recent Developments in Electric Vehicle Technology
Researcher Doug Clover will look at recent trends in the performance and cost of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and current and emerging developments in electric vehicle battery technology.

Hayden Scott-Dye: Understanding Electric Vehicles in New Zealand
Hayden Scott-Dye of Meridian Energy will present an overview of the Mitsubishi iMiEV evaluation and some of its key results, the benefits of adopting and accelerating the deployment of electric vehicles in NZ, and some of the key challenges going forward.

Steve Goldthorpe: Greenhouse Consequences of Electric Vehicles in New Zealand - An Assessment Framework
Energy analyst Steve Goldthorpe will set out the assumptions required to assess the impact on the CO2 emissions per person kilometer of personal travel associated with an individual's switch from a conventional vehicle to an electric vehicle, and explore the sensitivities of key parameters.


Updates will be posted at http://www.sef.org.nz/conferences.html#2009

Book Review: Urban Driftwood, by Morgan Davie, Jane Elizabeth, Dan Rabarts and Stephen Rhoades

Urban Driftwood is an anthology of poems and short stories/prose poems written by Morgan Davie, Jane Elizabeth, Dan Rabarts and Stephen Rhoades. It's currently available as a free download from Dan Rabarts' web site, and is also available from Lulu.com.

Urban Driftwood consists mainly of poetry, with a few longer pieces which I would class as being prose poems rather than short stories - though that is always a difficult boundary to define. It's a nicely-put-together collection of the four authors' work; the book is divided into sections, but rather than each section representing the work of one author, they are loosely organised by theme, with the section titles being "waking", "change", "ritual", "ache" and "love".

I don't know any of the writers represented in Urban Driftwood in person, but I know Dan Rabarts virtually, and he tells me that the work in Urban Driftwood dates from the respective authors' late teens and early twenties, and hence early in their writing careers. That's reflected in the variable quality of the work in Urban Driftwood, but the good news - and it is good news - is that there are pieces by each writer in Urban Driftwood that I like very much, and though there are also weaker pieces by each writer, the overall standard is high.

What particularly stood out for me? Overall, I thought Morgan Davie's work was the most polished, and in particular two longer pieces on the prose poem/short story boundary, the somewhat hard-boiled riff on Red Riding Hood, "Hanging Tough", and also "vive le roi". Jane Elizabeth contributed several short poems about love and relationships that I enjoyed, such as "Pier", "Bus" and "Rain". Dan Rabarts has a darker style which is shown at its best in "Refraction", but his "Untitled", the final poem in the book, is delightfully sweet, gentle and succinct. And Stephen Rhoades contributes a couple of fine poems in "Journey In-Between" and "Musings".

Back in the early 1990s, I edited two anthologies of work from members of the Writers' Intensive Care Group (WICG) in Dunedin, What on Earth and Electroplasm. Urban Driftwood is in a similar tradition, and the four writers involved have done an excellent job in getting their work in front of readers. I do encourage you to download it and check it out.

The Road Goes Ever On And On

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can.

[JRR Tolkien]

Well, the Road may go ever on and on, but I've stopped following it. The Voyagers Book Tour of New Zealand has moved north of Wellington, while I remain, dipping my weary feet in snow just deep enough to serve as a coverlet for a hobbit's toes.

I could report tales of drunkenness, drugs and debauchery from my travels with Voyagers, but I won't, because I'd have to make them up, and I'm tired. What I can say is that the events in Dunedin (on the 14th and 15th - Kay McKenzie Cooke reported on the latter), Christchurch (here's a report) (16th), and now Wellington (19th) have gone well, that I've met old friends and new, and that many poets seem to have found inspiration from their first exposure to science fiction poetry!

In that regard, I'm really pleased that we decided to have an open mike for science fiction poetry at those events where the lineup of Voyagers poets was small enough to permit it – which means all the South Island events and the events at Paraparaumu Library on the 20th and the Depot Arts Centre, Devonport, on the 24th. It was great to hear the Voyagers poets read, both their own work and that of other poets who couldn't be there (such as Katherine Liddy's "Crab Nebula", which even had poets competing to read it one venue). It was equally exciting to hear poets, inspired by the occasion, reading science fiction poems they had recently written — Kay McKenzie Cooke and Helen Lowe among them.

So now the road, and the tour, go on, in the capable hands of IP publisher and poet David Reiter, while I remain behind, dealing with all the tasks that have accumulated while I've been away. The remaining events on the Voyagers Book Tour are:

Auckland Central Library, 22 Oct, 5.30pm, with Raewyn Alexander, Jacqueline Ottaway, Iain Sharp, Michael Morrissey, Anna Rugis, Alastair Paterson, Iain Britton, Thomas Mitchell, Janet Charman and David Reiter

Devonport, Depot Arts Space, 28 Clarence Street, 24 Oct, 6:30 pm, with Iain Britton, Alistair Paterson, Andrew Fagan, Janet Charman, Anna Rugis, Thomas Mitchell and David Reiter - plus open mike for science fiction poetry, if time permits.

Iain Britton's fine collection Liquefaction will be launched during these Auckland events.

If you've missed the tour, there are a number of ways to buy a copy of the book the Listener recently reviewed so enthusiastically:

• Directly from me (within NZ). I now have a limited number of copies for sale for $28 plus $2 p&p. If you'd like one, please email senjmito@gmail.com with your address and preferred payment method, and we'll take it from there.


• From an increasing range of bookshops. Unity Books (Wellington and Auckland), Bruce MacKenzie Books in Palmerston North, Madras Cafe Books in Christchurch, and the University Book Shop in Dunedin all have copies, or can take your order if stock has run out.


• From the publisher.


• From Amazon.com (in paperback and Kindle e-book formats).


• From Fishpond.


• From New Zealand Books Abroad.

An Open Mike, An Open Heart

An Open Mike

Just a couple of days now till the Voyagers Book Tour of New Zealand begins, and we have decided to include an Open Mike for science fiction/speculative poetry at the tour events for which we don't have a full slate of Voyagers poets reading. Note the highlighted events on the tour:

14 Oct: Dunedin Library, 5:30 pm
15 Oct: Circadian Rhythm Café (72 St Andrew St, Dunedin), 7 pm
16 Oct: Madras Café Books (165 Madras St, Christchurch), 5 pm
19 Oct: Wellington Central Library, 5:30 pm
20 Oct: Paraparaumu Library, 179 Rimu Rd, 5:30 pm
22 Oct: Auckland Central Library, 5:30 pm
24 Oct: Depot Artspace (28 Clarence St, Devonport), 6:30 pm

At these bold events, not only will Voyagers poets will read their own and (in some cases) others' work from the anthology, but there will also be an opportunity for other poets to bring along their own science fiction/speculative poetry (we won't be too strict about definitions) and read it at these Voyagers events. I already know at least one poet who, inspired, is setting out to write a poem or poems specially for the event they plan to attend. You can choose to do likewise, or simply to come along, sit back, and listen!

An Open Heart

I have been known to criticise Creative New Zealand on occasions, notably when they slashed the funding of the New Zealand Poetry Society in 2008. But it's only fair that I should also acknowledge the good things they do: a number of books in which I have had stories published would not have been possible, or would have had a smaller print run, without Creative New Zealand funding.

Last year, I was the guest editor of Issue 26 of JAAM Magazine. I was happy to take on the task because JAAM published some of my earliest fiction and poetry and has continued to be a hospitable home for my work over the years: so it was a good chance to do something for JAAM and for writing in general in return. I didn't expect to be paid, and I wasn't.

But, a couple of weeks ago, I received a very nice surprise with my subscribers' copy of JAAM 27: an ex gratia payment for editing Issue 26. A note from publishers Helen Rickerby and Clare Needham said that the payment to editors had been made possible by an increase in this year's Creative New Zealand grant for the publication of JAAM, which also allowed an increase in this year's payment to contributors.

So, thank you Creative New Zealand!