Vivienne Plumb, who is currently based in Auckland, will be visiting Wellington in July, giving Wellingtonians two opportunities to hear her read.

Chance one: at The Ballroom Cafe, Sunday 17 July
Vivienne is guest reader, and Marg Layton (Queen of the Blues) is the guest musician. It will kick off with an open reading at 4 pm, and will go until 6 pm.

Chance two: Poetry Society, Monday 18 July
Sounds like it will be a fun evening at the Poetry Society in July:

'The New Zealand Poetry Society, in association with Otago University Press, is pleased to present the  launch of Jennifer Compton's new collection, This City. At the usual starting time of 7.30pm, we will have our AGM, followed by a reading from Guest Poet (and playwright, short story writer, and general renaissance woman) Vivienne Plumb.'

There will be no open mic  or entry charge.

Thistle Inn, 3 Mulgrave Street, Thorndon. Starts at 7.30.

Seraph Press is delighted to announce that it will be publishing two new poetry books this year, all going to plan.

New Zealand Icons: Prose Poems, by Vivienne Plumb

In this new collection by Vivienne Plumb she celebrates and skewers New Zealand's national identity in prose poems about such Kiwi icons as cheese and onion sandwiches, motels in Taupo, and New Zealand's changeable weather. A sampler of these poems appeared in Vivienne's most recent collection, Crumple.

Vivienne Plumb writes poetry, fiction, and drama. She has published a novel, a novella, a collection of short fiction, several play scripts, five collections of poetry and two poetry chapbooks.  She presently lives between Auckland and Sydney, while she is working on a doctorate of creative arts through an Australian university. Her play The Cape has recently been translated into Polish and will be published in Warsaw. She will read in September for the Australian Poetry Centre in Sydney.

The Comforter, by Helen Lehndorf
In this much anticipated debut poetry collection Helen Lehndorf explores the joys, pains, beauty and ugliness of life. These poems don't shy away from the dirt, don't give trite answers and show love, not as sentimental, but as fierce.

Helen Lehndorf is a writer and writing teacher. Her work has been published in the journals Landfall, Takahe, Sport, JAAM and others, and in anthologies including Kaupapa: Global Issues, New Zealand Poets and Swings and Roundabouts: Poems about Parenthood among others. She has also had feature articles published in the Dominion Post and fiction produced on Radio New Zealand National.

Both collections are due to be published towards the end of 2011.

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