50 Poems by 50 Poets: Recent New Zealand Poetry

50 Poems by 50 Poets: Recent New Zealand Poetry

50 Poems by 50 Poets: Recent New Zealand Poetry is an archival edition of a selection Mark Pirie edited for papertiger: new world poetry in Brisbane, Australia, 2004 run by Paul Hardacre and B R Dionysius.

It features established and new poets, including hip hop and music tracks in a CD-ROM format.

A free PDF eBook of the anthology is now available for researchers and readers.

Preface

Since the late 1940s and 1950s when Louis Johnson and Allen Curnow were publishing their poems in Poetry (Chicago), there's been a growing interest and acceptance of New Zealand poetry overseas. Past issues of the UK magazines Stand and Dreamcatcher have published selections of it.  Many of our top poets (Bill Manhire, Peter Bland, Fleur Adcock, Allen Curnow, James K Baxter, and Vincent O'Sullivan), are or have been published in England and the States. In 1982 Alistair Paterson was successful enough to have his 'open form' anthology 15 Contemporary New Zealand Poets accepted for US release by Grove Press in New York. A follow-up mini-anthology, which he edited, was later published in New Directions magazine.

So, with this new selection of New Zealand poetry for papertiger, I have looked to continue the good work already done by my predecessors who have actively promoted this dynamic literature from such a small and isolated country.

50 Poems by 50 Poets brings together something of the New Zealand/Aotearoa flavour.  Subjects here range from rugby and being a roadie for The Clash to the Treaty of Waitangi as well as the more personal and traditional such as death and love. Meant as a light introduction, it shows a representative sampling of some of the poetry styles and forms (including hip-hop and pop) currently being made here. Some of the writers: Tui Gordon, Cliff Fell, Scott Kendrick and Doug Poole will be virtually unknown to an overseas audience but they are producing some of the most lively poetry at present. Others like Riemke Ensing, Murray Edmond, Albert Wendt, Michele Leggot, Peter Bland and the recently deceased Alan Brunton are already established and occupy a prominent place in the local literary landscape. All the poets collected here are worth reading and well worth exploring further.

Mark Pirie, Wellington.
April 2004

Contributors: Alan Brunton, Albert Wendt, Alex Staines, Alistair Paterson, Amelia Nurse, Anna Jackson, Basim Furat, Bernard Gadd, Bill Direen, Cliff Fell, Damian Ruth, David Eggleton, David Howard, David Karena-Holmes, Dean Hapeta/Te Kupu, Doug Poole, Emily Dobson, F W N Wright, Harry Ricketts, Harvey McQueen, Hayden Barr, Helen Rickerby, Iain Sharp, Jack Perkins, Jack Ross, James Brown, Janet Charman, Jeanne Bernhardt, Jenny Powell-Chalmers, John O'Connor, L E Scott, Leonard Lambert, Michael O'Leary, Michele Leggott, Mike Eager, Moshé Liba, Murray Edmond, Nick Ascroft, Peter Bland, Peter Olds, Riemke Ensing, Ron Riddell, Scott Kendrick, Simon Williamson, Terry Locke, Tim Jones, Tony Beyer, Trevor Reeves, Tui Gordon, Vivienne Plumb