Wild Honey

A comprehensive guide to poetry by New Zealand women poets written by poetry champion Paula Green

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 OCKHAM NEW ZEALAND BOOK AWARDS

New Zealand women have published poetry for over 150 years. In this landmark book, poet and anthologist Paula Green celebrates and makes connections between 201 of them, from emerging poets and those who are household names to those who have slipped from public view or were not paid the honour they were due in their lifetimes.

Wide-ranging, engaging and affecting, Wild Honey celebrates the many ways in which poems by women deserve a place in the literary canon of Aotearoa. Charming and unique, the book’s chapters follow the structure of a house, with different poets being discussed and assessed in each of the house’s rooms.

The selection is enormously generous, the tone is at times gentle and accessible, and Green’s reach is wide. She brings the pioneers of women’s poetry — Jessie Mackay, Blanche Baughan and Eileen Duggan — back from the shadows, and she also draws our attention to the remarkable stories of forgotten women poets such as Lola Ridge.

The book’s release in August 2019 is timed to coincide with National Poetry Day.

To look inside click here.

To watch a short introduction to the book by Paula Green, click here.

‘How would it be if poetry written by women in New Zealand had a house that you could visit, in which you could spend time, and from which you could emerge having made new friends? Luckily, Paula Green has made us such a house. Wild Honey: Reading New Zealand women’s poetry brings literary pioneers such as Jessie Mackay, Blanche Baughan, Lola Ridge and Eileen Duggan out of the shadows to stand with contemporary literary provocateurs such as Hera Lindsay Bird and Tayi Tibble.’ — Volume Books

‘It is noisy, refreshing and proudly anchored in the domestic . . . Green is an engaging host, throwing open the curtains, whisking off the dust sheets, coursing through different poetic traditions in animated homage to women's writing.’ — Sally Blundell, New Zealand Listener

‘A stunning book.’ — Read NZ

‘This was an extremely difficult book to review because it merits much more than a linear reading. It’s a book that beckons the reader to return to it, with pencil markings and post-it notes.’ — Emer Lyons, Landfall Review Online