MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Vic Books and Helen Rickerby of boutique poetry publisher Seraph Press are teaming up to create Seraph Press Poets & Friends, a National Poetry Day event at Vic Books on the Kelburn campus. The event will bring together Seraph Press poets and some of the fantastic poets who are part of the Victoria University community. The theme of the event is the ampersand: &, symbolising inclusion and connection.

“I’m really excited about the mix of poets,” Helen says. “From the university we have Anne Kennedy, who is this year’s Writer in Residence, Italian lecturer Marco Sonzogni and PhD students Therese Lloyd and Liang Yujing, whose translations into Mandarin of Best New Zealand Poems 2014 was published earlier this year. Also from Wellington we have Anahera Gildea, whose recent chapbook Poroporoaki has been a hit. And I was really delighted to be able to invite some of my out-of-town poets, as we don’t often get to hear them read. From Auckland we’ll have Paula Green –  who, through her reviewing and her NZ Poetry Shelf blog, must surely be the biggest supporter of NZ poetry – and Vana Manasiadis, and from Palmerston North we have Helen Lehndorf and Johanna Aitchison.”

Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day 2016 is on Friday 26 August. This year, the 19th annual celebration of poetry and poets, is the biggest yet, with almost 100 events taking place across the country. Of the many events in Wellington, Seraph Press Poets & Friends at Vic Books is probably the earliest. They chose a morning teatime slot so people can sit back with their coffee from Vic Books Cafe, perhaps one of their famous doughnuts (if they’re quick enough to get one before they sell out), and start the day with poetry. 

“We’re going to have lots of fun with this. The shop will be Poetry-struck!” says Marion Castree of Vic Books. “We’re going to decorate the shop, and Poetry Day coincides with the university’s Open Day.” Audience members are also in for a special take-away treat. After the popularity of the free poetry zine at last year’s event, staff member Jayne Mulligan (also one of this year’s Salient editors) will be crafting a follow-up. 

Helen, a poet herself, founded Seraph Press in 2004. It has gained a reputation for publishing beautiful books of high-quality poetry. Marion says, “We asked Helen and Seraph Press to be involved because we really like what she’s doing in her poetry publishing, and the range of voices she promotes.” Helen was delighted to work with the bookshop: “Vic Books are great supporters of the literary community, promoting local books and authors, and turning up to sell books at launches and events – always with great enthusiasm.” 

When: Friday 26th August, 10.30am to 11.30am
Where: Vic Books, Easterfield Building, Victoria University, 1 Kelburn Parade, Kelburn, Wellington 6012.

• For more information about the Seraph Press Poets & Friends event:
  • visit https://vicbooks.wordpress.com/national-poetry-day-2016/ 
  • join the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/616506468507852/
  • or contact Marion Castree: 04 280 6205, [email protected].
• For more about all the National Poetry Day events around the country, visit www.nzbookawards.nz/national-poetry-day/2016-national-poetry-day.
• For comment from National Poetry Day, contact: Miriam Barr, National Coordinator, [email protected].

Notes:

• Organisers and poets are available for interview. Contact Marion Castree: 04 280 6205, [email protected].
• A high resolution jpg of the poster is available for download: http://www.seraphpress.co.nz/media.html.

We've teamed up with Vic Books to bring you a morning teatime National Poetry Day event. It will feature some out-of-town Seraph Press poets (Helen Lehndorf, Paula Green, Vana Manasiadis, Johanna Aitchison) one in-town Seraph Press poet (Anahera Gildea), and some friends from around Victoria University - PhD students (Therese Lloyd and Liang Yujing), Italian Lecturer (Marco Sonzogni, whose translations of a contemporary Italian poet will be published by Seraph Press later in the year) and the 2016 Writer in Residence (Anne Kennedy).

Facebook event page is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/616506468507852/. And you can find a calendar of all the National Poetry Day events here: http://nzbookawards.nz/national-poetry-day.

All welcome. Hope to see you there!

To celebrate the reprinting of Maukatere: Floating Mountain (after the hand-numbered first edition sold out in a flash, and it jumped to number three on the New Zealand Fiction for Adults bestseller list!), it seemed like a good time to interview the author, Bernadette Hall, and the artist, Rachel O'Neill, of this extra-special book.

Thanks so much to everyone who has supported this book by coming to the three launches we've had - one in Amberley, one in Christchurch and the last in Wellington (the first ever event at Ekor Bookshop Cafe, which was a wild success) - and of course by buying the book! 

Tomorrow evening is the first launch of Paula Green's new poetry collection, New York Pocket Book, in Auckland (with a second to following in Wellington on Saturday), where she'll be reading poems about cities with a bunch of her favourite poets. The eve of the launch seems like an excellent time for an interview with the author.

What was the genesis of New York Pocket Book?
 
My family (Michael and our teenage girls) had 10 nights in New York about six years ago. Michael had spent a week there with only a few coins in his pockets on his way to London before I met him. He’s an artist but couldn’t afford to get into any of the art museums and slept in a stoop at night with his mate. So this visit was going to be very different. The trip, however, was a first for the girls and I. We bought New York City Passes and each picked things—which meant we all went to things we might not have picked but that were very cool. The girls picked the Botanical Garden, which was this explosive, visual surprise. They also picked Madame Tussauds, which was an endless string of wow wow wow! I picked Ellis Island, where the early immigrants were processed, and was moved at so many levels. I adored walking for miles, the great museums (especially the Museum of Natural History and the Met). We didn’t rush. I sat in front of certain paintings for ages while tourists whizzed through rooms clicking.
 
I guess I had built a NYC in my head that was calibrated from TV series and fiction, so the real thing busted that into a thousand molecules and then reassembled with smell and taste and infectious noise. Oh and the musicals were a high point, plus we got to see the extraordinary stage play of The War Horse. I could rave about the bookshops, the food, the city beauty. Arrived with a near empty suitcase, returned home with a bag of books and a T-shirt or two.
 
Would we go there again? Yes!
 
Our guide for our journey around New York is the character of Josephine, whose eyes we see everything through, but who remains enigmatic. Why did you decide to use a persona or alter-ego?
 
I liked the idea of a figure that could carry bits of me but that also carried bits of not-me so I could tell the truth and invent to my heart’s delight. Someone asked me where the name came from and I said kept rolling it over my tongue. I just liked the sound of it. It was the first name that popped into my head. Having a protagonist makes it a bit more of a story book, like an on-the-road musing. I didn’t want to provide a dense back story for Josephine, just leave little clues. It is all about how you experience something for the first time and how that experience hits you quick and smart, slow and deep, in so many different ways.
 
Many of the poems are interestingly spaced or arranged on the page. Can you talk about why you decided to do that?
 
There is always a mysterious alchemy between form, sound and content. You have a starting point for a poem and then without analysis or interrogation the form unfolds like the water you spill. It just happens. It could look like this, or it could look like that. Later you can follow the sparks between that poetry trinity.
 
New York poets and their poetry are very important in this book. Have they been important to you as a poet? Who are your favourites, and are they the ones who have been most influential on you?
 
I got a T-Shirt at a stall that said ‘Lettuce turnip the beet’ which I really like. It made me think of the NYC poets from generations back walking on the same streets as me, seeing the same moon, the same odd angles of sky. It is not that an individual poet galvanized me – I think my key influences lie elsewhere – but I loved the idea of a school of a poetry hubbub.
 
I kept wondering how would my writing differ if I had been raised on this thin, populous, adorable island?
 
Many of the poems are meditations on poetry, what poetry is and what it takes to make a poem. Have you come to any conclusions?
 
When I am away from my list of weekly tasks, I find a renewed liberation of thought. When I travel there is a certain wonder, joy and equilibrium that is in part being with the ones I love and in part being somewhere new. I think I decided that my poetry comes out of this rather than struggle, pain or despair, as it does for some writers. Poetry is way of holding onto life. We all do it differently and that is what makes it so wonderful.
 
Find out more about New York Pocket Book
Find out about the Auckland and Wellington launch readings

It was a historic day today - I sent out the first ever Seraph Press newsletter. They might even become regular, now that I've figured out that it isn't so hard!

Read the rest of the newsletter online...
Subscribe to Seraph Press's occasional newsletters...  

To celebrate the launch of her new collection of poetry, Paula Green wanted to do something a bit different - she's invited a bunch of her favourite poets to be part of two readings in Auckland and Wellington, where they'll read poems about cities. We're in for a treat!

Read more about New York Pocket Book...

5.00pm, Tuesday 7 June 2016,  ​Gow Langsford Gallery, 26 Lorne Street

Books on sale thanks to The Women's Bookshop.

3.00pm, Saturday 11 June 2016, Thistle Hall, upstairs, corner of Cuba and Arthur streets.

Books on sale thanks to Vic Books.

We hope you can join us for one of our three launches for this fantastic new book by eminent poet Bernadette Hall, featuring exquisite drawings by Rachel O'Neill. Find out more about Maukatere...

Launch One: 3.00 pm, 21 May 2016, Hurunui Public Library, 11 Carters Road, Amberley

The first Seraph Press book off the block this year is Poroporoaki to the Lord My God: Weaving the Via Dolorosa: Ekphrasis in Response to Walk (Series C) by Colin McCahon by Anahera Gildea​ (when I get a chance, I'll write a post about the other gems you can look forward to from a rather over-committed Seraph Press this year).

We hope you'll come and help us celebrate the launch!

When: Wednesday 20 April 2016 at 7pm
Where: Mezzanine floor, Lighthouse Cuba, 29 Wigan Street, Wellington

Poroporoaki is, as the subtitle suggests, a response to Colin McCahon’s paintings that are, in turn a response to the death of poet James K. Baxter. In this rich poem up-and-coming writer Anahera Gildea takes these threads and weaves them into a vivid Māori cultural context. The result is powerful, emotional and beautiful.
 
This exquisitely produced hand-bound book is available in a first edition of 150 hand-numbered copies. It is bound with hemp and flax-linen thread, and features an insert of hand-made flax paper.

For more about the book and author, or to buy copies of the book if you can't make it to the launch, visit the book's page on this site.

We've had not one but two launches for Johanna Aitchison's Miss Dust! 

The first was at the lovely and welcoming Palmerston North City Library in July. Poet Vivienne Plumb  launched the collection with a fabulous speech that you can read below. You can also watch a video of Johanna reading at the launch.

Then we were feeling the need for a Wellington celebration too, and what nicer way to welcome Johanna and Miss Dust to the Seraph Press family than with a reading with a few other members of that family: Vana Manasiadis, Nina Powles and Vivienne Plumb. Last Saturday, despite the arctic weather, there was a warm turnout and we were treated to a great reading from all four poets. Many thanks to the Concerned Citizens Collective for allowing us to use your great space at 17 Tory.

I have known Jo Aitchison for some years now. We first met around 1999, Jo was living in Wellington and had just had her first (chapbook) poetry collection Oh My God I’m Flying published by Chris Orsman’s Pemmican Press. This first book was an introduction to New Zealand audiences of Jo’s distinctive, lively voice.

Then came the publication of Jo’s next collection A Long Girl Ago with Victoria University Press in 2007. It was a finalist for a 2008 Montana Book Award and established Jo’s exciting, experimental way of writing. At the core of the book are a number of poems based around Jo’s time living in Japan in a remote fishing village in Hokkaido, where she was teaching English. A Long Girl Ago was described by reviewers as ‘exuberant and original’, and Joan Fleming wrote in her review that the poems possessed ‘killer line breaks’.

Jo’s poem 'Jun', which is part of her new collection, won the 2010 NZ Poetry Society Competition (when I was the judge). So, with all these past links and affiliations between us, it’s great to be standing here launching her new collection, Miss Dust, published by the excellent Wellington publisher, Helen Rickerby, through her poetry press, Seraph Press.

Once again, these new pieces are full of the wordplay and the whimsical tone that has become part of Jo’s style. Her reassemblage of words form new meanings within the text and make words and phrases balance against each other in surprising ways, for instance, in the piece entitled 'The air was freaky with champagne' we read:

  ‘We popped shivers, ate sighs,
   rubbed frantically against lamp posts’

And in relation to writing poetry:

   ‘She sucks back the lips
   and slams them into the page,
   you have to make them
   fit the constraints of the page’  ('Miss Dust and the affair')

The persona of ‘Miss Dust’ creates a particular world the reader is drawn into, as they follow Miss Dust’s activities:

   When she was a woman,
   a man knocked on her door and said,
   ‘Why are you wearing my dress?’
   ‘Why are you wearing my trousers?’ she replied.
   ‘Why don’t we swap?’ he said.
   ‘Now you’re talking!’ said Miss Dust.
   The trousers rode high and were rather loose,
   so she secured them
   with a skipping rope, chucked on
   a CD and said ‘You lead.’   ('Miss Dust makes it to the second date')

Sometimes these poetry pieces act tough and at other times there is an innate sense of sadness and longing in the writing, lurking closely behind the skydiving humour. In the poem, 'Miss Dust takes a teaching job', she warns the schoolchildren she is teaching that they should:

   ‘Consider the desk the beginning of your life
   and your feet as chains’

Miss Dust’s autofictional refigurations could be construed as performing the same purpose as that of a traditional fairy story, in that they offer valuable advice and instruction about life in general, what to be wary of, and what to expect. And at the same time, Miss Dust is telling us that risks need to be taken by women, that women must dare to do what has been discouraged in the past. Boundaries and borders require risk-taking in order to create change.

Miss Dust also examines the spaces pertaining to a daily life, and the conscious meanings that are assigned to those everyday visible and invisible movements of a life. Miss Dust’s to-ing and fro-ing creates an individual geography, not only physically but more importantly, a personal geography of a life emerges from these poems. 

Jo Aitchison has constructed a female narrative in this work that continues on from her previous collections, and the observations of Miss Dust result in a selfhood, a kind of poetic consciousness. Each piece appears to be a fragment, and in consolidating these fragments together, Jo Aitchison has created a manuscript that celebrates poetry and word and at the same time magically metamorphoses into the wonderful pogo-stick-jumping yarn that is Miss Dust’s fabular life. 

Come along to help us celebrate the launch of Miss Dust, Johanna Aitchison’s third poetry collection, and hear readings by Johanna and other Seraph Press poets: Vivienne Plumb, Vana Manasiadis and Nina Powles.

Books will be available for sale (cash or cheque only). Drinks and snacks and conviviality for free.

Saturday 8 August, 3 pm, at the Concerned Citizens Collective, 17 Tory Street, Wellington