Paula Green at the Poetry Shelf blog has reviewed the Poetry New Zealand Yearbook 2018:
‘More and more I witness clusters of poetry communities in New Zealand – families almost – that might be linked by geography, personal connections, associations with specific institutions or publishers. How often do we read reviews of, or poems by, people with whom we don’t share these links? Poetry families aren’t a bad thing, just the opposite, but I wonder whether the conversations that circulate across borders might grow less and less.
‘I want a poetry journal to offer diversity, whichever way you look, and we have been guilty of all manner of biases. This is slowly changing.
‘When I pick up a journal I am on alert for the poet that makes me hungry for more, that I want a whole book from.
‘I am also happy by a surprising little diversion, a poem that holds me for that extra reading. Ah, this is what a poem can do!
‘Editor Jack Ross has achieved degrees of diversity within the 2018 issue and I also see a poetry family evolving. How many of these poets have appeared in Landfall or Sport, for example? A number of the poets have a history of publication but few with the university presses.
‘This feels like a good thing. We need organic communities that are embracing different voices and resisting poetry hierarchies.’
Read the full review here.
