A Fool For Poetry: I'm Reading At The Metro On 1 April

 
I'm the guest poet at Music & Poetry at the Metro this coming Sunday, 1 April. Here's the lineup:

Guest Musicians: Ramon Oza and Susie Colien-Reid

Open Mike

Guest Poet: Tim Jones

The Metro is at 7 Lydney Place, Porirua, and the session runs from 4-6pm.

I'll be reading from Men Briefly Explained and trying a few newer poems out as well.

If you're on Facebook, you can sign up for the Facebook event and also see the Music at the Metro Facebook page for more news: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Music-at-the-Metro/301841379852705

Here is some more information about the guest musicians:

Black Eyed Susie

Ramon Oza and Susie Colien-Reid are the core sound of four piece original Celtic rock band Blackeyedsusie. Ramon has played electric guitar professionally for 35 years, starting with supporting his family by performing 6 nights a week for a 5 star hotel in India. Susie studied classical violin to diploma level, until her love of 70’s rock drew her to develop the freelance raw style she enjoys today. Individually both have performed for major international acts ranging from the Drifters, to the Alabama Blind Boys. As a duo their sound is a blend of high energy Celtic and Funk Blues Rock influence.

Of Tania Hershman, Men, and Middle Earth

 
Men of Middle Earth sounds like a good idea for a calendar, actually - although Dwarves of Middle Earth would be more appropriate in this year of The Hobbit.

But no, this is an orc-huntin', mead-swillin' odyssey through the geographically coterminous worlds of Middle Earth and Men Briefly Explained. Your guide is the distinguished UK writer of short and short-short fiction, Tania Hershman:

An Interview with Tim Jones in which Men are Briefly Explained.

The interview includes my photos of used movie locations! And I encourage you to find out more about Tania, her writing, and her new collection of fiction on her website.

At Home He's A Blog Tourist

 
Latest Blog Tour Interview

Wellington poet and author Janis Freegard asks me about how Men Briefly Explained fits with my previous books, and what I'm working on at the moment: Interview with Tim Jones.

Previous Interviews

12 December 2011: Wellington poet and publisher Helen Rickerby asks me about the development of Men Briefly Explained as a collection, and I revealed that it started life as a never-published chapbook called "Guy Thing": Tuesday Poet: An interview with Tim Jones about Men Briefly Explained.

12 December 2011: Christchurch fantasy author, poet and book blogger Helen Lowe talks with me about whether men buy poetry, the identity of those mysterious men who write poetry, and what relationship there is between poetry and speculative fiction. Look through the comments for a giveaway I'm offering! A Magical Mystery Tour Through “Men Briefly Explained” — & A Few Side Topics — With Author Tim Jones

7 December 2011: Auckland poet, graphic poet, short story writer and novelist Rachel Fenton asks me to dance: Tim to dance: Rachel Fenton interviews Tim Jones.

6 December 2011: Wellington poet Harvey Molloy talks with me about men, mid-life crises, art and politics: An Interview with Tim Jones.

1 December 2011: Dunedin poet Kay McKenzie Cooke talks with me about Southland, prose poems, and the fabled Gore High School jersey: New Zealand Writer Tim Jones Explains.

27 November 2011: Canberra poet PS Cottier talk with me about hard work, whether the male sex has a future, and Swannis: Of Poems and Men: Interview with Tim Jones.

Chaps And Chapbooks

 
In the latest blog tour interview, Wellington poet and publisher Helen Rickerby asks me about the development of Men Briefly Explained as a collection, and I revealed that it started life as a never-published chapbook called "Guy Thing". It's all revealed in Tuesday Poet: An interview with Tim Jones about Men Briefly Explained.

Previous Interviews

12 December 2011: Christchurch fantasy author, poet and book blogger Helen Lowe talks with me about whether men buy poetry, the identity of those mysterious men who write poetry, and what relationship there is between poetry and speculative fiction. Look through the comments for a giveaway I'm offering! A Magical Mystery Tour Through “Men Briefly Explained” — & A Few Side Topics — With Author Tim Jones

7 December 2011: Auckland poet, graphic poet, short story writer and novelist Rachel Fenton asks me to dance: Tim to dance: Rachel Fenton interviews Tim Jones.

6 December 2011: Wellington poet Harvey Molloy talks with me about men, mid-life crises, art and politics: An Interview with Tim Jones.

1 December 2011: Dunedin poet Kay McKenzie Cooke talks with me about Southland, prose poems, and the fabled Gore High School jersey: New Zealand Writer Tim Jones Explains.

27 November 2011: Canberra poet PS Cottier talk with me about hard work, whether the male sex has a future, and Swannis: Of Poems and Men: Interview with Tim Jones.

Invitation To The Dance

 
The hits just keep on coming! (And yes, I did write "Yummy Yummy Yummy I've Got Love In My Tummy", and yes, I did write "Ferry Across Wellington Harbour To Eastbourne, Stopping At Matiu/Somes On Request", which Gerry and the Pacemakers insisted on changing to "Ferry Across The Mersey" because it was more 'relatable'.)

But this is a different type of hit - a dancefloor hit. A dance card, in fact, marked for me by Auckland poet, graphic poet, short story writer and novelist Rachel Fenton. It's the latest stop on my blog tour. It is...

Tim to dance: Rachel Fenton interviews Tim Jones.

Previous Interviews

6 December 2011: Wellington poet Harvey Molloy talks with me about men, mid-life crises, art and politics: An Interview with Tim Jones.

1 December 2011: Dunedin poet Kay McKenzie Cooke talks with me about Southland, prose poems, and the fabled Gore High School jersey: New Zealand Writer Tim Jones Explains.

27 November 2011: Canberra poet PS Cottier talk with me about hard work, whether the male sex has a future, and Swannis: Of Poems and Men: Interview with Tim Jones.

The Men Briefly Explained Blog Tour: Harvey Molloy Interviews Me

 
The latest interview on my blog tour to talk about my new poetry collection Men Briefly Explained, published by Interactive Press, is up.

Wellington poet Harvey Molloy talks with me about men, mid-life crises, art and politics: An Interview with Tim Jones.

Previous Interviews

1 December 2011: New Zealand Writer Tim Jones Explains, an interview by Kay McKenzie Cooke.

27 November 2011: Of Poems and Men: Interview with Tim Jones, an interview by PS Cottier.

The Men Briefly Explained Blog Tour: New Interview Up

 
I've embarked on a blog tour to promote my new poetry collection Men Briefly Explained.

What that means is that I am visiting a series of blogs during the next few weeks to talk about Men Briefly Explained. As the interviews go up, I will be posting links to them here.

My latest interview is with Dunedin poet Kay McKenzie Cooke - one of my favourite New Zealand poets - and you can check it out here: New Zealand Writer Tim Jones Explains.

My first interview was with Australian poet PS Cottier, whom I will in turn be interviewing on my blog in a few weeks' time:

27 November 2011: Of Poems and Men: Interview with Tim Jones, by PS Cottier

What Readers Are Saying About "Men Briefly Explained"

 
Readers are saying some very nice things about my new poetry collection, Men Briefly Explained.

Here are three comments from people who have read the collection:

Tim, your book arrived this morning, and I'm having to FORCE myself to stop reading and get on with the work I need to do. I am especially moved right now by "The Problem of Descendants". It's a magnificent book. - Johanna Knox

By the time you reach the third age of man you want to turn to the toddler pages and live the whole book again - Rachel Fenton

By turns poignant, insightful and laugh-out-loud funny, Tim Jones brings his trademark dry wit to a great new poetry collection. Thoroughly enjoyable! – Mary Victoria

This reviewer and this reviewer have said nice things, too.

We are approaching a time of the year when many people give gifts, so if you would like to buy a copy of Men Briefly Explained, here's how to do it:

In Person

You can order Men Briefly Explained through your local bookshop. Please tell them the title, the author name, the publisher (IP/Interactive Press) and (just for good measure) the ISBN, which is 978-1-921-86932-7. They should have no problem getting hold of it.

Or - even simpler - just email me at senjmito@gmail.com and I will make sure you get a copy.

Online

Here you have a wide range of options:

• You can find out more about the book, and buy it directly from the publisher, at the Men Briefly Explained mini-site.
• You can buy Men Briefly Explained from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle ebook. (You don't need a Kindle to read this - just a Kindle reader programme for your computer, which is easy to obtain.)
• It is also available from Amazon.co.uk in paperback and ebook formats.
• Men Briefly Explained is available in a range of formats from eBookpie and for the Kobo.
• Men Briefly Explained is now available from the iTunes store for your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or for your computer if you have iTunes.

Go on - you know you want to, and based on what other readers have said so far, you won't regret buying a copy.

Tuesday Poem: Video Poems from the Book Tour + Radio Interview

I was going to resume normal Tuesday Poem service this week, but instead, here is some YouTube video from the Men Briefly Explained / Tongues of Ash book tour, plus a radio interview I did for Radio New Zealand's "Arts on Sunday" programme.

If you think "I would love to buy one of the shiny books featured in this video", here is how to do so:

• Men Briefly Explained
• Tongues of Ash

Video Poems from the Book Tour

These video highlights from our Wellington event at the Wellington Central Library and our Eastbourne event at the Rona Gallery and Bookshop include (a) Keith Westwater reading (actually, this is the whole vid) ...

• The West Winds Gang is back
• Camera Obscura revealed: 1. The layered memories of a place
• Papaitonga Reserve in the duck-shooting season
• Evensong in a graveyard of villas
• Winds and time

... and (b) Tim Jones reading:

• Impertinent to Sailors
• Belong
• Queens of Silk, Kings of Velour
• Baxter-Curnow Band Live at Hyde Park 1969
• Epiphenomenon
• ... and then, rather mysteriously, I read "Impertinent to Sailors" again

Radio New Zealand interview

Sonia Sly of Radio New Zealand interviewed me for the "Arts on Sunday" programme on Radio New Zealand. Here is the interview in mp3 format:

http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/art/art-20111113-1435-chapter_and_verse_-_tim_jones-048.mp3

Next week, I promise, I'll have an actual Tuesday Poem up on my blog! In the meantime, you can check out this week's Tuesday Poems here: http://tuesdaypoem.blogspot.com

The Load-Out

 
The Men Briefly Explained / Tongues of Ash book tour is over. I'm back in my home, Keith is back in his, our publisher David is back in Australia, and the roadies have loaded the last of the gear into the trucks ... OK, I may have made that last part up. They actually loaded the gear into pantechnicons.

We travelled from Dunedin to Auckland via Christchurch, Wellington, Eastbourne, and Paraparaumu. Along the way, we slept under hedgerows, in deserted fields under the stars, and in the houses of friends. At our performances met up with real-life friends and friends from the Internet. We sold books. We signed books. We read organised sequences of words from books. We got in cars and planes. From the planes, we could see clouds. From the cars, we could see election billboards. We saw John Key a lot. We didn't see Phil Goff. We saw Annette King, though - she came to our Wellington launch.

We didn't have contract riders, but if we had, they would almost certainly have stipulated only macrobiotic food, a room set aside for meditation at every venue, and the removal of all the brown M&Ms.

Actually, I like the brown M&Ms.

Tim reading at the Rona Gallery launch event in Eastbourne. Thanks to Sally McLennan for the photo.

Sometimes, I read before Keith, and sometimes, Keith read before me. Sometimes, David read before both of us. I quickly discovered which poems from Men Briefly Explained worked well in front of a live audience, and which didn't. I attended an excellent voice workshop for poets a few days before the tour started, and in tribute to this, I used my voice quite a lot on the tour. By our Auckland gig, it was showing definite signs of wearing out.

Seriously for a moment: though it was tiring at times, I enjoyed the tour very much. The physical touring is over, but now there's a virtual tour to think about. Watch several other spaces!

Must ... Buy ... Comb

 

My Book Tour Hits The North Island - And Adds A New Kapiti Coast Event

 
After a damp but enjoyable South Island leg, the book tour to launch my new poetry collection Men Briefly Explained and Keith Westwater's prize-winning debut collection Tongues of Ash has reached the North Island - and we have added a new book tour event, this coming Saturday at 1pm at Paraparaumu Library.

This one has been added at very short notice, so it would be great if you could let Kapiti Coast folks who may be interested know about it.

Here are the remaining tour dates. I hope to see you at one of them!

• Lower Hutt: Friday, 28 October, Rona Gallery/Bookshop, Eastbourne, 6pm
• Kapiti Coast: Saturday, 29 October, Paraparaumu Library, 1pm
• Auckland: Tuesday 1 November, Poetry Live, Thirsty Dog, 469 Karangahape Road, 8pm

It's On! The Men Briefly Explained and Tongues of Ash Book Tour Begins Today

 
No Tuesday Poem on my blog this week, but no shortage of poetry, because the Men Briefly Explained and Tongues of Ash book tour begins today!

Once more, here is the itinerary - STOP PRESS - now with Saturday's Kapiti Coast event added:

• Dunedin: Tuesday, 25 October, Circadian Rhythm Café, 72 St Andrew Street, 8pm
• Christchurch: Wednesday, 26 October, CPIT, Madras Street, 5:30pm
• Wellington: Thursday, 27 October, Wellington Central Library, 5:30 for 6pm
• Lower Hutt: Friday, 28 October, Rona Gallery/Bookshop, Eastbourne, 6pm
• Kapiti Coast: Saturday, 29 October, Paraparaumu Library, 1pm
• Auckland: Tuesday 1 November, Poetry Live, Thirsty Dog, 469 Karangahape Road, 8pm

You can sign up to attend the tour on our Facebook events page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=188416554563635

Some lovely Tuesday Poets have kindly posted poems from Men Briefly Explained on their blogs this week - you can check them out by going to the Tuesday Poem blog and looking on the right-hand menu. Don't forget to check out this week's hub poem and all the other excellent poems featured on the right.

If you can't make it to one of the tour dates, here is ...

How To Buy Men Briefly Explained

You can buy Men Briefly Explained from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle ebook.

Likewise, it is available from Amazon.co.uk in paperback and ebook formats.

You can also find out more about it, and buy it directly from the publisher, at the Men Briefly Explained mini-site.

Men Briefly Explained is also available in a range of formats from eBookpie and for the Kobo.

Poetry Tour Preparations: The Physical Tour ... and the Virtual Tour?

 
The Physical Book Tour: It's All On

It begins in a fortnight. And appropriately enough, it beings on a Tuesday.

"It" is the book tour Keith Westwater and I are embarking on to launch our new poetry collections: Keith's first collection Tongues of Ash, and my new collection, Men Briefly Explained.

Here are the stops on the tour:

• Dunedin: Tuesday 25 October, Circadian Rhythm Café, 72 St Andrew Street, 8pm
• Christchurch: Wednesday 26 October, CPIT, Madras Street, 5:30pm
• Wellington: Thursday 27 October, Wellington Central Library, 5:30 for 6pm
• Lower Hutt: Friday 28 October, Rona Gallery/Bookshop, Eastbourne, 6pm
• Auckland: Tuesday 1 November, Poetry Live, Thirsty Dog, 469 Karangahape Road, 8pm

If you live in one of those places, I hope you'll be able to make it along - and, whether or not you can make it along, please tell your friends in those centres!

Some other things you can do:

• Sign up for the tour on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=188416554563635
• Check out the tour poster and other details
• Buy the books online if you can't make it to a tour event: Men Briefly Explained: paperback and ebook and Tongues of Ash: paperback and ebook.

It's worth noting that Dr David Reiter, the publisher of Interactive Press and a noted poet in his own right, will also be in attendance and reading from his new collection My Planets. As he is an international poetry publisher who has a track record of publishing collections by New Zealand poets, he may be someone you want to get to know.

The Virtual Book Tour: Under Construction

On hearing about the physical book tour, two writer/bloggers have kindly offered to host stops on a virtual book tour to follow the physical one. I'm grateful to those people, I think this is a great idea, and I am keen to line up more stops. So, if you would be interested in your blog hosting a stop on the virtual book tour, please get in touch by emailing senjmito (at) gmail.com, or say so in the comments below.

Hmmm, you may be wondering, what is a virtual book tour? Well, it involves a series of bloggers hosting interviews with or guest posts by a writer with a newly released book, according to a pre-arranged schedule. Not long after setting up this blog, I was one of the stops on the virtual book tour for Tania Hershman's debut short story collection, The White Road and Other Stories, which serves as a good model.

(Note: Some of the links in this 2008 post no longer work.)

I don't have Tania's impressive stamina for answering a lot of questions in a short time, so I thought - and one of my generous prospective hosts has suggested - that I could use the "Five Questions With..." format used in the tour for Tales For Canterbury. That makes the load a bit lighter on everyone.

So. If you can come to one of the launch events, please do - I think you will enjoy them. And if you're interested in hosting a stop on a virtual book tour, please get in touch.

Tuesday Poem: happened to meet

 
happened to meet
fingers extending a welcome
household of tired gods
the table, drinks

then morning.

Birds, coffee, the paper
affirmed you

my hand on your hip
my hand on your breast
my hand on your heart.


Credit note: "happened to meet" is a new poem, first published in my new poetry collection Men Briefly Explained.

You can check out all the Tuesday Poems on the Tuesday Poem Blog - this week's hub poem in the centre of the page, and all the other Tuesday Poems on the right.

Tuesday Poem: Men At Sea

 

1. Puysegur

Glint of gold, horizon
proclaiming fish: familiar
warnings of gale and cloud.

He descends to the fishing boats.
One will take him tideward,
southward, a tolerated,

but far from welcome,
inspector of catches. In a pre-dawn
counterfeit of morning, they cast off

for Puysegur: the south-west
corner, the Roaring Forties'
big back yard, their hunting ground.

Three days of the sea as mountain range,
eating with the crew, sharing danger
but not profit. Three days

of soaked skin, puddled clothes, each
wooden bunk a trampoline, salt spray
in every cut and nick. At last

the turning homeward, past Solander,
past Centre Island — the Bluff
finally, blessedly, in sight.

He will make tallies, say farewells,
enact the weary rituals
of damp wharf and empty office.

He will drive a narrow highway home,
eyelids heavy, engine cold and catching
in the falling winter light.

2. Halfmoon Bay

School holidays. The ferry's
uncertain plunging past the fishing fleets,
young feet

attentive to the scuppers. Green bile
derived from dread and remnant breakfast
flung, a final offering,

to the greedy waves. Then this
harbour long desired, Foveaux's fingers
unclamping from my inner ear. Sudden

ease, relief; a brief reflection
that all this must be undergone again.
Boats in our wake, men at sea

raising a laconic workman's finger
to visitors, to loopies,
to the daily irruption of other lives.

And now the island: crash
of gangways, solid ground,
davits whining as we walk away.

Men at sea, I take my father's hand
as we approach the village, houses
hunched against the glowing skies.

The lure of escape, of absorption
into no-time, merely being
and doing. The memory of waves.

The journey back. Hands,
half-longed-for, half-feared,
reaching as we near the shore.

Credit note: "Men At Sea" is a new poem, first published in my new poetry collection Men Briefly Explained.

Tim says: My dad used to work as a fisheries inspector in Southland, the southern province of New Zealand. Halfmoon Bay on Stewart Island/Rakiura, and Puysegur Point at the south-west corner of New Zealand, were two of the places on his 'beat'. I went with him several times to Stewart Island, but the trip to Puysegur was regarded as a bit tough for a child of my age. I still haven't been there.

You can check out all the Tuesday Poems on the Tuesday Poem Blog - this week's hub poem in the centre of the page, and all the other Tuesday Poems on the right.

October Book Tour To Launch Men Briefly Explained and Tongues Of Ash

 
It's all on! The Interactive Press book tour for my third poetry collection, Men Briefly Explained, and Keith Westwater's prize-winning debut collection Tongues of Ash, starts in Dunedin on Tuesday 25 October and ends in Auckland on Tuesday 1 November. Here is the tour poster:

For the benefit of Google and of those, like me, whose eyesight is not what it was, here are those details again in text format:

• Dunedin: Tuesday, 25 October, Circadian Rhythm Café, 72 St Andrew Street, 8pm
• Christchurch: Wednesday, 26 October, CPIT, Madras Street, 5:30pm
• Wellington: Thursday, 27 October, Wellington Central Library, 5:30 for 6pm
• Lower Hutt: Friday, 28 October, Rona Gallery/Bookshop, Eastbourne, 6pm
• Auckland: Tuesday 1 November, Poetry Live, Thirsty Dog, 469 Karangahape Road, 8pm

You can also see these, and signal your attendance, on our Facebook events page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=188416554563635

To celebrate the occasion, Keith Westwater has launched his own website.

Dr David Reiter, the publisher of Interactive Press and a noted poet in his own right, will also be in attendance and reading from his new collection My Planets. As he is an international poetry publisher who has a track record of publishing collections by New Zealand poets, he may be someone you want to get to know.

We will be doing lots more to publicise individual events over the next seven weeks, but if you just can't wait that long to get your copy of these books, or if you live where you can't get to a launch event, you can already purchase both books from Amazon in paperback and Kindle ebook formats, as follows:

Tongues of Ash: paperback and ebook
Men Briefly Explained: paperback and ebook

Oh, All Right, If You Insist

 
I wasn't going to. But after spending the past two days reading nothing but pleas from leading media outlets for me to change my mind - "He must tell us!" (New Orleans Times-Picayune), "This has become an urgent matter of national security" (Washington Times), "All Blacks something World Cup something" (Dominion Post) - I have decided to give in. The rumours are true: the three titular brothers of my Tuesday Poem Tres Hermanos are indeed that trio of Hollywood hot-shots, Zack, Jed and Joss Whedon.



Here they are with Maurissa "Mo" Tancharoen at some San Diego Comic Con of distant memory - that's Mo, Joss, Zack and Jed in that order. Since the brothers Whedon got their (uncredited) chance to shine in Tres Hermanos and hence Men Briefly Explained, here is Mo Tancharoen with Fran Kranz in the music video for her and Jed Whedon's song "Remains". It's a video that manages to be beautiful, creepy, sad and feminist all at once.

Tuesday Poem: Tres Hermanos

 
They're feudin', Mama.
They're rasslin'.

They're camped up in Bozeman
for the party season.

One is a long bore.
Another raids the mini-bar, now sure

his date won't show. The third
defends his diary with a secret code.

A horseman riding by
observes the niceties of outstretched thumbs

(that poor horse,
sway-backed and spavined,

when all it wanted was a better ranch).
Hear that far-off harmonica blow

beneath that far-off sky.
See that second mortgage slip away.

They're fussin' and a–fightin', Mama,
those three sons of yours,

arguing over the script
as wolves tiptoe behind.

Credit note: "Tres Hermanos" appears in my new poetry collection, Men Briefly Explained.

Tim says: The note about this poem at the back of Men Briefly Explained helpfully advises as follows:

"Bozeman is the fifth largest city in Montana, on the route of the former Bozeman Trail. Though this is not stated in the poem, the three titular brothers are named Zack, Jed and Joss, which irresistibly suggested a Western theme."

Times are tough, even in Hollywood.

You can read all the Tuesday Poems on the Tuesday Poem blog - the featured poem is on the centre of the page, and the week's other poems are linked from the right-hand column.

Available On Amazon In Paperback And Kindle Ebook: Men Briefly Explained And Tongues Of Ash

 

STOP PRESS: Men Briefly Explained is now available on Amazon in print and Kindle ebook formats!

Print: http://www.amazon.com/Men-Briefly-Explained-Tim-Jones/dp/1921869321/

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Men-Briefly-Explained-ebook/dp/B005HRYM32/

Keith Westwater's Tongues Of Ash is also available on Amazon in these two formats:

Print: http://www.amazon.com/Tongues-Ash-Keith-Westwater/dp/1921869267/

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Tongues-of-Ash-ebook/dp/B005HIV6J4/

Now, back to our regular programming:

In late October, Lower Hutt poet Keith Westwater and I are setting out on a book tour to promote our new poetry collections, my Men Briefly Explained and his Tongues Of Ash.

You can use this link to pre-order the paperback versions.

The Kindle versions are not yet available, and so the "Buy Kindle" links on these pages do not work yet. They will be updated once the Kindle versions are available.

Both books are being published by Interactive Press of Brisbane, who published Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand in 2009.

Almost all the events on the book tour are now confirmed, and we'll be releasing the tour details once all events are confirmed - but we start in Dunedin on Tuesday 25 October and end in Auckland a week later, winding through Christchurch, Wellington, and Eastbourne en route. Watch out for more details soon!