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Mark Pirie releases new book Black Gold with Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop

Posted Wednesday, September 9, 2026 by Mark Pirie
Archived as Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, Mahinarangi Tocker, Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, Hone Tuwhare, James K Baxter, Meg Campbell

In September, I released a new book of poems with Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop called Black Gold after a break of four years. The book is important to my body of work as it is mostly written in the local New Zealand tradition of poets and poetry and dedicated to James K Baxter who died early at age 46.

Previously my early poetry had been innovating away from this local tradition. 

Poets Hone Tuwhare, Kevin Ireland, Clive James, John O'Connor, Michael Duffett (USA), Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, Meg Campbell and songwriter Mahinarangi Tocker receive elegies. 

Poet and editor Tony Beyer says of the book: "[Pirie's] poems have real depth and maturity, and I applaud their consistent respect for and celebration of the life of poetry. Respect and compassion for people, too. Pirie’s work always seems to have been headed this way, with an accurate ability to make the personal universal.”

 

Mark Pirie edits Basim Furat's Visions New Arabic poems in translation

Posted Friday, July 30, 2021 by Mark Pirie
Archived as Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, Arabic poetry in translation, Basim Furat

In July 2021, I edited a new collection of translations from the Arabic by Iraqi poet/travel writer Basim Furat, Visions.

The book contains new poems written on Furat's travels in Japan, South America and the Sudan.

The title is included in the ESAW Mini Series (being No. 43). Furat was also the first title in the ESAW Mini Series back in 2005.

It is an honour to be able to collect more of Furat's poetry in translation for readers in English. Furat is a highly regarded and award winning writer in the modern Arab world of travel writing and literature.

ESAW publishes Mark Pirie’s Bono Mato Poeia rock poems and drawings

Posted Friday, July 30, 2021 by Mark Pirie
Archived as Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, Poetry by Mark Pirie, Rock, Artworks by Mark Pirie

In July 2021, my new collection of rock and roll poems and drawings, Bono Mato Poeia, was published by Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop.

It presents new poems on rock written since my previous music collection Electrimotive in 2018.

Artists included: Lauryn Hill, Leonard Cohen, Ryan Adams, songwriter Jimmy Webb, Van Halen, Jim Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Billy Joel, Ronnie Van Zant, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, David Bowie and more.

It also includes some B&W line drawings of Sammy Hagar, Leonard Cohen, Bono (cover), Bob Dylan, and Anthony Kiedis previously featured in my artbook Folk Punk.

This will be my final mini book in the ESAW Mini Series (being No. 42) which ESAW publisher Michael O'Leary intends to end at No. 50.

Mark Pirie co-authors an anthology of lockdown poetry

Posted Thursday, July 16, 2020 by Mark Pirie
Archived as Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, Poetry by Mark Pirie, Margaret Jeune, Alex Jeune

June 2020 saw the release of an anthology of national lockdown poems by myself, Alex Jeune and Margaret Jeune. 

I put together the sequence from our poems written during the COVID-19 national lockdown period, March to May 2020, in New Zealand.

The book gives three differing perspectives by New Zealand poets on the global crisis and is our personal responses to it. Our book is not meant to speak for everyone’s thoughts and feeling during the lockdown period in New Zealand. We hope it gives an affirming sense to readers of what we have all been through and endured during the lockdown in New Zealand.

It is published in the relaunched ESAW Mini Series (No. 39).

Here's the link to the publisher's blog:

https://michaeloleary.wordpress.com/2020/07/16/esaw-publishes-lockdown-mini-book/

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