24 May 2012
Tim and Keith Read at the Ballroom Cafe, Sunday 17 June
Join poets Tim Jones and Keith Westwater and viola player and singer Emma Kaloay for an afternoon of music and poetry from 4-6pm on Sunday 17 June at the Ballroom Cafe, cnr Riddford St and Adelaide Rd, Newtown, Wellington.
The session starts with an open mike, then Emma will play, then Tim and Keith will read. We'll have copies of our poetry collections available for sale.
If you are on Facebook, you can join the Facebook event. We hope to see you there!
21 May 2012
Tuesday Poem: Revenant, by Harvey Molloy
15 May 2012
Tuesday Poem: Now What?
Credit note: First published in Men Briefly Explained (IP, 2011). Mary Cresswell gave Men Briefly Explained an excellent review in issue 75 of Takahe, and this is one of the poems she quoted in her review.
Tim says: There have rumblings - rumblings which are entirely justified - about the continuing lack of new Tuesday Poems from me. My only defence is that I'm not actually writing poetry at the moment - I'm writing short stories. But I may have to break the habit of a lifetime and put unpublished poetry up here before long. Poetry editors all around the world will weep at the loss of the cherished first rights to publish my beautiful poems... (Cups ear, listens for sounds of weeping. None heard.)
But no matter! This week, I thought it was fully worth posting another poem from Men Briefly Explained, given Mary's excellent review. This is the oldest poem in the book, written when I was single and lived in Dunedin. It didn't make it into my first collection, Boat People, but it fitted nicely into Men Briefly Explained.
The Tuesday Poem: You can check out all the Tuesday Poems at the Tuesday Poem blog - the hub poem in the centre, and the other Tuesday Poets' work linked from the left.
08 May 2012
Tuesday Poem: Shetland Ponies, Haast Beach
Forest and sea have had their way
Credit note: "Shetland Ponies, Haast Beach" was first published in my latest poetry collection, Men Briefly Explained (IP, 2011) - available in lots of places online, through bookshops, and from me!
Tim says: After Tim Upperton's broadly positive review of Men Briefly Explained in Landfall, I thought it would be a good idea to post another poem from MBE. This one is taken directly from personal experience. I lived at Haast (now called Haast Beach) on the West Coast between the ages of two and four, when the Haast Highway was being built - Dad was the pay clerk for the project, and once married quarters were built, Mum and I moved across from Christchurch to join him.
In due course we shifted to Invercargill. I didn't return to Haast for many years, and when I did, it was in a hired car with a female friend who had never been there before.
The Tuesday Poem: You can read all this week's Tuesday Poems at the Tuesday Poem site: the hard-hitting hub poem selected by Helen Lowe in the centre, and the other poets' poems linked from the left.
03 May 2012
So, Er ... Yeah
A few little things:
Tim Upperton has reviewed my latest poetry collection Men Briefly Explained in Landfall Review Online - thanks, Tim!
Here is Tim's review: http://landfallreviewonline.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/messages-from-red-planet.html
And here is lots more information about Men Briefly Explained, including where and how to buy it: http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.co.nz/p/men-briefly-explained.html
Michelle Elvy pointed out to me that a search for "Men Briefly Explained" on Fishpond lists my book at the top but some distinctly bizarre choices under that - Hitler: A Short Biography? The World of Mining??!
Experience these bizarre search results yourself at http://www.fishpond.co.nz/advanced_search_result.php?rid=968709485&keywords=men%20briefly%20explained
As well as being a fine writer, Michelle Elvy has given a real boost to flash fiction writing in this country with her and Sian Williams' magazine Flash Frontier and now with the announcement that 22 June will be National Flash Fiction Day. Watch out for events in your area, and check the National Flash Fiction Day website for news. Don't forget the National Flash Fiction Competition, which closes on 1 June, either!
So, er ... yeah. Back to writing those short stories!