Joanna Preston: Tasmanaut Poet
I know winter feels as though it will never depart, but it will. There are buds just starting to colour on my plum trees, the blackbirds are fighting for territory, and every time I turn around there seems to be another flourish of jonquils. But even more certainly a harbinger of spring-to-come, it is now …
Continue reading "Coming soon – the CPC Spring 2019 Poetry in Performance readings!"
Yes indeedy, I have once again taken a/ the plunge and b/ leave of my senses and am officially announcing that the 24-Hour Poem competition is on again. Ten words, twenty-four hours, one poem. How hard could it be? Once again there will be a Winner, a Runner-up, an Organiser’s Husband’s Choice, and the chance …
Continue reading "National Poetry Day 2019 – the 24-Hour Poem Competition is on again!"
In Guernica the dead children Were laid out in order upon the sidewalk, In their white starched dresses, In their pitiful white dresses. On their foreheads and breasts Are the little holes where death came in As thunder, while they were playing Their important summer games. Do not weep for them, madre. They are gone …
After the earthquakes, you were one of the things that helped us all hold on. You were a symbol of unity, of the ability of Cantabrians to pull together and get through what were then our darkest days. I’ve been a fan of Canterbury Rugby since I came to live in New Zealand, twenty-five years …
Continue reading "An open letter to the players of the Canterbury Crusaders"
My friend Gail Ingram, who is a Christchurch poet, writer, and editor, has done what I don’t seem to be able to do and put eloquent words around some of what we’re all feeling. And Radio NZ had the immense good sense to whip her into the studio and record it. Have a listen: https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018687085/a-poem-for-christchurch …
