Poetry picks of the year
The 10 best books of New Zealand verse from 2019, as chosen by Nicholas Reid.
The 10 best books of New Zealand verse from 2019, as chosen
COLLECTED POEMS by Fleur Adcock (Victoria University Press [VUP])
Greatness in 550 pages. A poet’s half-century-long career between covers, from ironic young woman to one wiser and older; and little of it dated.
UNDER GLASS by Gregory Kan
(Auckland University Press [AUP])
One unified, complex poem in which a dream landscape stands in for a whole life’s journey.
TO THE OCCUPANT by Emma Neale (Otago University Press [OUP])
Broad and humane range from a skilled poet moving between small domestic experience and real tragedies.
NIGHT AS DAY by Nikki-Lee Birdsey (VUP)
An assured debut balancing experimentation with frank expression in exploring a dual American– New Zealand identity.
A PLACE TO RETURN TO by John Allison (Cold Hub Press)
Old-school, but welcome, civility from an experienced elder poet looking at landscape and high culture.
LISTENING IN by Lynley Edmeades (OUP)
In prose poem, list poem and free form, an examination of communication itself.
LAY STUDIES by Steve Toussaint (VUP)
Most unexpected collection of the year. Demands much of the reader, but rewarding in its philosophical questioning.
TWO OR MORE ISLANDS by Diana Bridge (OUP)
A jewel of a book, unafraid to use mythology in delineating the human condition.
MOTH HOUR by Anne Kennedy ( AUP)
Free verse in a sometimes angry and sometimes witty lament for the poet’s lost brother, which becomes a critique of a whole society.
LOST AND SOMEWHERE ELSE by Jenny Bornholdt
(VUP)
The poet can be cryptic, but her “found” poems, and poems of personal statement, add up to a commentary on the very nature of art.
Captain James Cook 250 years ago. Tessa Duder, a veteran sailor, skilfully steers her text between “the shoals of opposing viewpoints” on the first encounters. Elliot’s sepia-tinged, occasionally bloodstained drawings blend historical accuracy with mystique in a design evocative of weathered parchment.
THE ADVENTURES OF TUPAIA by Courtney Sina Meredith; illustrated by Mat Tait (Allen & Unwin)
Tupaia’s time has finally come, with an Auckland Museum exhibition focusing on the Tahitian priest-navigator without whom Cook might not even have arrived in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Varied enough textually and visually to hold the attention of young readers, this accompanying book is told in a dramatic mix of verse, prose and stylised vignettes, with the occasional comic-book sequence.
MOPHEAD by Selina Tusitala Marsh
(AUP)
A lively autobiography from the recently retired poet laureate and first person of Pacific descent to gain a PhD in English from the University of Auckland. Bursting with textual and visual puns, this handsome hardback elevates the graphic memoir above its comic-book origins while assuring its place in the hearts of kids for whom such books remain a welcome bridge to literacy.
MY FIRST WORDS IN MĀORI by Stacey Morrison; illustrated by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly (Puffin)
Beginning with heads, shoulders, knees and toes, this simple pictorial dictionary covers just about every day-to-day scenario a Kiwi family might encounter, with conversational phrases a bonus. Ka pai! But where are the days of the week?
WHEN THE WHALES WALKED by Dougal Dixon; illustrated by Hannah Bailey
(Australian Geographic)
A straightforward introduction to evolution, mass extinction and the implications for humankind’s future. This attractively illustrated, welldesigned overview, timeline and exploration of the main classes of animals is loaded with fascinating words young readers will have never heard of – and love to pronounce.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ CHILDREN’S BOOKS, EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE SO OLD AND WISE by Katherine Rundell (Bloomsbury)
For adults who cannot resist a stunning new picture book or young-adult novel, this gem of an essay reminds us why children’s books are important not only to young readers but also to the child within us all.