After its publication late last year, Nina Powles's debut chapbook Girls of the Drift quickly sold out of its first limited hand-numbered edition, but it's not too late to get hold of a copy - a second edition is now available.
It's been gaining accolades for its author, most notably one of the poems in the book, 'Volcanology', was selected by Poet Laureate Vincent O'Sullivan as one of his 25 Best NZ Poems. You can read it here on the Best NZ Poems website.
Paula Green reviewed it on her marvellous NZ Poetry Shelf blog, and shared 'Josephine' as her Friday poem. Paula said of the collection:
'I love the richness of context of the poems (Katherine Mansfield and her characters, a ghost at an old school, real things and invented things, a history of the poet’s reading), but I also love the way lines turn a corner and surprise you.' She continued: 'Nina’s collection stretches with the agility of a wordsmith who knows just where to break a line, shift a point of view or the pitch of a phrase. The poems take flight from the reading and research that a university offers, and the experience and insight you bring to that reading.' Read the complete review on NZ Poetry Shelf.
The book has also been reviewed by Sarah Wilson on her Writehanded blog. She said: 'My favourite kind of poem is the sort with last lines that land in your throat and stay there for days. Poems where the resolution and the climax happens in two beats that leave you slightly dazed. That’s what Nina Powles’s work does.' Read the complete review on Writehanded.
It's been gaining accolades for its author, most notably one of the poems in the book, 'Volcanology', was selected by Poet Laureate Vincent O'Sullivan as one of his 25 Best NZ Poems. You can read it here on the Best NZ Poems website.
Paula Green reviewed it on her marvellous NZ Poetry Shelf blog, and shared 'Josephine' as her Friday poem. Paula said of the collection:
'I love the richness of context of the poems (Katherine Mansfield and her characters, a ghost at an old school, real things and invented things, a history of the poet’s reading), but I also love the way lines turn a corner and surprise you.' She continued: 'Nina’s collection stretches with the agility of a wordsmith who knows just where to break a line, shift a point of view or the pitch of a phrase. The poems take flight from the reading and research that a university offers, and the experience and insight you bring to that reading.' Read the complete review on NZ Poetry Shelf.
The book has also been reviewed by Sarah Wilson on her Writehanded blog. She said: 'My favourite kind of poem is the sort with last lines that land in your throat and stay there for days. Poems where the resolution and the climax happens in two beats that leave you slightly dazed. That’s what Nina Powles’s work does.' Read the complete review on Writehanded.
