Most of my residency money went on dull, quotidian things (living!) but I did want to buy a small piece of art as a momento of the experience. Excuse the truly awful photograph – it’s hard to photograph shiny glass, but here is what I chose. (Trust me, it looks much lovelier in real life.) … Continue reading a new artwork, some poems popping up & The Unspeakable Secrets of the Aro Valley.
(Book cover spotted in an op-shop.) Auckland writer and academic JACK ROSS reviewed my book (and Aleksandra Lane’s) for the Landfall Review Online. You can read it HERE. I actually cried a little bit when I read this review….of happiness, I hasten to add. Because I’m published with a small press, I had steeled myself … Continue reading the greatest thing in the world
I write about the seasons a lot, don’t I? I can’t help it. I grew up in a small town in the middle of farmland – my Dad was (still is) a hunter and fisherman and so we ate with the seasons and the seasons were meaningful in a way they may not be for … Continue reading the last
Firstly, my friend, the journalist Kimberley Rothwell has started a blog on the Stuff website about her new garden. The refreshing thing about Kimberley’s blog is how honest it is! Lots of people are commenting, too, so it’s a great place to go to read about people’s experiences with things like Wellington wind, tomato failure … Continue reading Some Stuff, a scoop on Scoop and the wonderful ODT…
(Cover of a note by Willoughby. Spelling is not his strong point.) The Comforter has been reviewed! New Zealand poet, reviewer and academic Sarah Jane Barnett reviewed it today on her blog, The Red Room HERE. She says (among other thoughtful things) “…the collection is heartfelt, relatable and authentic.” Thanks so much for being the … Continue reading Inportent read!
Yesterday I found a bird skull in the garden while I was weeding. I like the way there is a little patch of feathers on the top of it’s head, like a macabre toupee. In one of those cases of art foreshadowing life, I wrote a poem a long while back about digging up bird … Continue reading manifest poetry
My friend Bryan Gibson, who is a talented musician and photographer, ‘bootlegged’ me reading my poem ‘the stay at home mother contemplates flight’ at my Palmerston North book launch and made this movie, featuring his guitar-playing. He put this together the very night of the launch! I love having creative friends who will do things … Continue reading the stay at home mother contemplates flight
This weekend I’m having two blissful kid-free nights in Featherston at my friend Emma McCleary’s house. It’s my little treat before the school holidays and a whole lot of intensive parenting begin! Emma is a great host and we always have a good time. Emma co-runs the Craft Country Fair in Greytown (this Saturday, 10-3,Town … Continue reading Craft Country this Saturday! Yeeeeeha!
(this is the last post about the book launches, you might be relieved to read…) The Comforter Cocktail (We made this in a big punch bowl, but of course you can make it by the glass also.) One part Blackcurrant Vodka Four parts soda water Enough rose-infused sugar syrup to make it pink and tasty. … Continue reading The Comforter Cocktail
Launch one: The first launch was in Palmerston North at the City Library. Rather than use the typical ‘stage and lecturn’ set-up, I wanted something more intimate, so we put the audience on the stage, and in a U-shape around a small circle made of fairy lights on the floor which became our ‘stage’. It … Continue reading ‘The Comforter’ launches (2)
Helen Lehndorf 