News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

Wellington City Libraries is pleased to announce that we will be hosting events for the temporary Literaturhaus running from 7th February to 11th February 2012.

These events include preschool story times, poetry readings, and two lunch-time events of short readings from current work by upcoming and established writers and translators, and will take place at the Central Library.

One of the highlights: on Wednesday 8th February at 6.15pm, well known Wellington writers, including Elizabeth Knox, Hinemoana Baker, Apirana Taylor and Fiona Kidman will give their unique take on Grimm-inspired themes.

This mobile literary festival has been arranged to celebrate New Zealand being guest of honour at the world’s largest book fair in Frankfurt later this year.

See Literaturhaus New Zealand for the full programme of events, and for events held in the Central Library (or at Clark’s Café), check out our Event Calendar

Wellington City Library is pleased to host at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday 27th October 2011, the launch of two new poetry publications by Wellington poets.

Men Briefly Explained by Tim Jones is his third volume of poetry. He has also published two books of short stories and was an editor of Voyages: science fiction poetry from New Zealand, an anthology successfully launched last year, again hosted by Wellington Central Library.

Tongues of Ash by Keith Westwater was the winner of the Interactive Publishers award for First Book. He is a freelance writer, whose clients include the Earthquake Commission, The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand and other Government ministries.

Wellington City Libraries along with IP (Interactive Publications) invite you to the launch of Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand, on Monday 19^th October at 5.30 pm ground floor Central Library, Victoria Street. This amazing anthology is edited by poet, fiction writer, critic and publisher Mark Pirie and Tim Jones, poet and fiction writer, both Wellingtonians. There is an impressive number of New Zealand writers represented in this anthology. The readers for the evening include poets Janis Freegard, Nic Hill, Jack Perkins, Rachel McAlpine, Helen Rickerby, Robin Fry and the editors Mark Pirie and Tim Jones.

The seating will be available on a first come first served based.

So come along and join us for a wonderful evening of poetry.

It is an eclectic selection of New Zealand publications that we offer you this month at Wellington City Libraries. First is a new opus in the Know Your New Zealand…series: Insects and spiders. Trust : a true story of women & gangs tells of the Aroha Trust and its members from the late 70s till today. Wine class and Your shout you’ll enjoy if indulging in alcoholic beverages is your thing. Helen Clark: a political life retraces the career of our former Prime Minister; and two volumes of poetry will keep you wondering in this month’s New Zealand Recent Picks.

‘It’s love isn’t it?‘ was released in 2008 a year after the death of  his wife and poet Meg Campbell, and now, a year later, Alistair Te Ariki Campbell has passed away.

The reading of this anthology in 2008 was a bittersweet pleasure in that Alistair had assembled the poems himself, placing the similarly themed poems of Meg’s on every facing page beside one of his.

The order of these poems would change so that where previously one of Alistair’s led now it was Meg’s. At some point in the list of contents at the front of the book the author is no longer stated and it is up to the reader to decide which poem belongs to which author, which narrative to which person. That sometimes this seems impossible is tribute to the strong, undeniable thread that ran between them.

John O’Connor wrote that, ‘Campbell’s oeuvre is vital, and varied in subject, voice and structure…’ and even the assembly of an anthology by Campbell becomes personal, structurally creative and heartbreakingly revealing.

‘The dark lord of Savaiki : collected poems,’ is a good place to start for insight into all the periods of this great writer’s work. It contains poems about love, Kapiti, Gallipoli, his Polynesian ancestors, madness and Meg…