Essential New Zealand Poems

A must-have poetry companion for all lovers of New Zealand poetry New Zealanders adore poetry, and this expertly selected and handsomely packaged collection of over 150 poems published since the 1950s shows exactly why: New Zealand poetry is, by turns, distinctive, affecting, joyous, revealing, moving, challenging, startling, profound and intimate. It is our lyrical national voice. With its poems selected by Siobhan Harvey, Harry Ricketts and James Norcliffe, all talented poets, academics, anthologists and poetry champions, this book deserves a place on every New Zealander's bookshelves.Author BiographySiobhan Harvey is a poet and non-fiction author who has published five books. She has worked as poetry editor of takahe magazine and editor of the Poetry Archive (UK), where she worked as assistant director on the 25 New Zealand Poets on the Poetry Archive UK project, which was launched in 2012. She has also been a consulting editor of International Literary Quarterly and guest editor of Poetry New Zealand and JAAM. Graham Beattie once described her as a 'literary activist', a term she actively embraces, especially in her literary organisational work, which has included organising an annual writers' festival series at the Auckland Art Gallery, mentoring six writers into publication through the New Zealand Society of Authors mentorship scheme and, between 2006 and 2013, acting as New Zealand's National Poetry Coordinator. She has written book reviews and literary articles for numerous New Zealand newspapers and journals, including Landfall, New Zealand Listener, New Zealand Herald, The Press and Beattie's Book Blog. Harvey is a lecturer and tutor at the Centre of Creative Writing at the Auckland University of Technology AUT. James Norcliffe is a poet, writer and editor who has published a collection of short stories, eight collections of poetry and several award-winning novels for young people, most recently Felix and the Red Rats (Longacre, 2012), which has been shortlisted for the 2014 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards. He has had a long-time involvement with takahe and has edited anthologies of poetry and writing by young people. He is poetry editor for the Christchurch Press. Norcliffe has been awarded writing fellowships both in New Zealand and overseas, including the Burns Fellowship, the IWP/Iowa Residency, and residencies in Hobart, at Massey University and at the University of Otago College of Education. He publishes poetry widely internationally, and regularly reads at festivals and occasions throughout New Zealand and overseas. Harry Ricketts teaches English Literature and Creative Non-fiction at Victoria University, and co-edits the quarterly review journal New Zealand Books. He has written or edited 25 books, including a biography of Kipling, nine collections of poems, extended personal essays and various anthologies. His most recent collection of poems, Just Then, was published by Victoria University Press in 2012, and his essay 'On Masks and Migration: Learning to Stand Upright' appeared in the Griffith Review 43, Pacific Highways. He is working on an anthology of New Zealand war writing and writing about friendship.