HeadworX News

March 2010

HeadworX starts 2010 with two exciting new releases:

No Boat May Allow Drowning to Vanish by Basim Furat

Basim Furat's previous collection of poetry, Here and There, the first Arabic poetry book to be translated into English in New Zealand, was published by HeadworX in 2004.

This new collection (with a striking cover by poet/painter Gregory O'Brien) continues Furat's underlying themes of war and exile from his homeland Iraq, with several moving poems on the aftermath of the conflict in Iraq and on Saddam Hussein's oppressive regime.

Yet Furat also branches out and widens his subject matter into other more immediate and universal concerns such as travel writing with evocative explorations of Hiroshima, Japan, as well as his respectful understanding of Buddhism in Laos, where he is currently living.

New Zealand itself becomes the focus for several of Furat's poems as a refugee and former Wellington resident. His evocative poems on Wellington and Mount Taranaki should appeal to many local readers.

This collection extends Furat's talents and sympathies, particularly his ability to bridge vastly different cultures with empathy and compassion for humanity and its struggles.

Goya Rules by Harvey McQueen

Goya Rules, Harvey McQueen's seventh book of poems, follows his well-received collection, Recessional (HeadworX, 2004). It includes a Foreword by well-known critic, writer and editor, Vincent O'Sullivan.

McQueen's ability to forge poetry from everyday events and domestic life, with a sharp eye for the observation of the natural world, again comes to the fore in this substantial new collection.

McQueen writes with humour and with committed involvement in his life and times. His poems, as individual entries on his life and the world around him, form a powerful whole and illustrate his distinct voice in New Zealand poetry.

August 2008

The first release for HeadworX in 2008 is It's Love, Isn't It? The Love Poems, a collection of love poems by two acclaimed and award-winning New Zealand poets, Alistair Te Ariki Campbell and the late Meg Campbell.

It was Meg Campbell's wish to be published with her husband, Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, in a joint collection of their poems. Sadly, she died before this could be accomplished.

Alistair Te Ariki Campbell has made the selection and matched the love poems, his and hers, which appear on facing pages throughout the book. The result is never less than cogent and illuminating. If you like poems that are frank, direct and passionate, this is the book for you.

July 2008

HeadworX Poets Tim Jones and Robin Fry will take part in Montana Poetry Day celebrations in Upper Hutt on Friday July 18, 2008.

Robin Fry reads with Nola Borrell at Upper Hutt City Library, 2pm

Tim Jones (whose collection Transported was recently longlisted for the 2008 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award) will read later with Simon Sweetman at the Upper Hutt City Library from 6.30pm-7.30pm.

The Winter Readings schedule for 2008 is also now available. Check the Events page for full details.

May 2008

broadsheet is a new New Zealand poetry periodical in chapbook form edited by Wellington writer and publisher Mark Pirie.

The aim is to publish high quality New Zealand poetry at an affordable price to readers. This is emphasised by the broadsheet format, which is in between a magazine and a book.

broadsheet: new new zealand poetry is published twice yearly in May and November.

The first issue features the following New Zealand poets: Jeanne Bernhardt, Tony Beyer, Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, Meg Campbell, Gemma Claire, Evelyn Conlon, Robin Fry, Basim Furat (translated from the Arabic), Michael O'Leary, Victor O'Leary, Stephen Oliver, Mark Pirie and L E Scott.

While the emphasis is on New Zealand poetry, each issue will also include international guests. The first issue features Michael Duffett (UK/USA poet/actor) who visited New Zealand in the late 1970s where he met poets Denis Glover, K O Arvidson and Vincent O'Sullivan.

Michael Duffet (who once played a part in the TV series Magnum PI) has published his prose and verse extensively. He is currently a Professor of Humanities at Humphreys College, Stockton, CA, USA.

Subscriptions are $NZ12.00 for two issues. Please send cheques to The Editor, broadsheet, 97/43 Mulgrave Street, Thorndon, Wellington 6011, New Zealand. Overseas subscriptions are $NZ24.00 for two issues. Cheques payable to HeadworX.

Please Note: No submissions. Poems will be solicited by the editor for each issue.

December 2007

The final releases for HeadworX in 2007 are Dream Boat: Selected Poems by Tony Beyer and Speaking in Tongues by L E Scott.

Beyer's book, Dream Boat, is a major selection from his work, spanning the 1970s through to the new millennium. It shows a writer of considerable craft and stature. Beyer's book should consolidate his reputation as one of our more widely anthologized and admired contemporary poets.

Jazz poet Lewis Scott's book Speaking in Tongues offers all new poems by this renowned performance maestro and also includes Scott's essay 'An American Soldier', a powerful cry of protest against the continuing loss of human life in Iraq.

August-September 2007

HeadworX is pleased to announce the publication of two fine books by New Zealand poets Alistair Te Ariki Campbell and Tim Jones.

Alistair Te Ariki Campbell's new collection, Just Poetry, contains a moving account of a happy childhood in the Cook Islands, as well as reflections on a recent visit to Rarotonga as an honoured guest. A powerful poem on the Parihaka outrage shows his sensitivity to Maori issues. Comic and witty poems range alongside the kind of eloquent lyric for which he is noted. The collection confirms Campbell's position as a leading New Zealand and Pacific poet.

All Blacks' Kitchen Gardens is Tim Jones' second collection of poetry from HeadworX, following Boat People in 2002. It includes his poem "The Translator", which was selected for inclusion in Best New Zealand Poems 2004, and poems which have been published in the Listener, North & South, New Zealand Books, JAAM, and a number of other venues, including US and Australian magazines. The poems in the book range all the way from Southland to Iraq, from a backyard telescope to Mars, from the Rapture to rugby league. Along the way, there's love, sex, children, and Motorhead. These poems are full of surprises. To quote one of them, "Summoning":

You never know.
That is the truth of every incantation.
You never know
what will come to the flame.

Both books will be launched at Winter Readings, an annual event in Wellington during August and September.

December 2006

The last release for HeadworX in 2006 is Sounds of Sonnets, a collection of sonnets by two well known New Zealand poets, HeadworX managing editor Mark Pirie and Michael O'Leary. The collaborative volume has a long history in poetry, e.g. Wordsworth and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads. In contrast Pirie and O'Leary have chosen the sonnet form, a widely used form in New Zealand verse. Each poet has 25 sonnets to depict their style and content, usually elegiac and satirical. In doing so the two poets combine to produce a substantial volume that will entertain and bring notice once again to the sonnet form in New Zealand. The book includes a Foreword on sonnets by Wellington critic/poet F W N Wright and a cover after the Simon and Garfunkel album Sounds of Silence!

September 2006

August saw the release of two new HeadworX books by Andrew Fagan and Tony Chad at Poetrymath: Winter Readings 2006 at the City Gallery in Wellington.

Fagan's Overnight Downpour (ISBN 0-473-11302-3, 50 pages, $19.99) is an all new collection of poems by the former Mockers' singer/songwriter now returned to New Zealand after a number of years spent living in London. Fagan's gift for rhyme and syllabics as evidenced in his song lyrics comes to the fore in this substantial slim volume of poetry. Love poems, ocean-going poems, and witty light verse are all intertwined in a lively medley displaying his distinctive poetic mode. Overnight Downpour is Fagan's fourth collection of poetry.

Tony Chad's Self-titled (ISBN 0-473-10945-X, 64 pages, $24.95) is his third collection of poetry. Well-known in Wellington pubs as the singer/songwriter for the Irish band, Finn McCool, and as an active supporter of the Upper Hutt poetry community, Tony presents strong, witty and direct poems which have the same bite as an album of catchy, well-crafted songs. Roger Steele writes that "This collection marks the best of Chad's work from the past eight years. During that time his style has developed and matured, to the point where the release of this collection is timely."

February 2006

February sees the publication of the Writers International (NZ) anthology, World Words, a diverse and vibrant multicultural collection of international writers in New Zealand. Victoria University academic and writer T M Schaefer edited the 160-page anthology. The assistant editors were Kevin Cudby (fiction) and Catherine Boyle (poetry). Contributors include new and established poets and fiction writers: T M Schaefer, Kevin Cudby, Riemke Ensing, Mark Pirie, Ron Riddell, L E Scott, Yilma Tafere Tasew, Basim Furat, Rosalie Carey, Puri Alvarez, Mavis Boyd and others. It is published in Association with HeadworX. Price $34.95. ISBN 0-473-10723-6. Available from Addenda Limited, Auckland, email: ngaire@addenda.co.nz

Released in the same month is HeadworX editor Mark Pirie's 13th collection, Wellington Fool. Published in the ESAW mini series, Wellington Fool consists of 15 new poems and includes a photo of the author by John Girdlestone (after the John Cougar Mellencamp album photo for American Fool). The poems, mainly situated in Wellington, comment on events social, personal and political. Highlights include a trip to Frank Sargeson's cottage on Esmonde Rd, Auckland, an elegy for Aotearoa and Maori music icon Dalvanius Prime and a poem written at Te Herenga Waka Marae, Wellington, for writer/poet Apirana Taylor. Popular music artists and groups like Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Sonic Youth, and U2 also feature in the poems. ISBN 1-86942-063-2. Price $5.00

October 2005

This month sees the publication of three new HeadworX poetry collections by well-known and respected New Zealand writers: Richard von Sturmer, Robin Fry and Harry Ricketts.

Suchness: zen poetry and prose is the first collection of new writings from well-known Auckland poet/songwriter Richard von Sturmer for over a decade. Robin Fry's Daymoon is the second collection of Fry's poems following her successful first collection Weather Report (Inkweed). Harry Rickett's new collection Your Secret Life updates his work since Nothing to Declare was published in 1998 and includes the poems from his chapbook, Plunge (Pemmican Press), as well as several earlier hard-to-find pieces.

Website updates

November/December 2012: - Added information about King Willow: Selected Poems.; - Added information about Old Hat: A Book of Triolets.
January/February 2012: - Added information about Out of It: A Novel Cricket Novel and updated Michael O'Leary's profile.
January/February 2011: - Removed broadsheet from the HeadworX site.; - Added information about The Corrosion Zone and added Barbara Strang's profile.; - Updated the homepage and submission guidelines page to say submissions are not currently being accepted.; - Added photo to F W N Wright's profile; - Added information about in vitro and added Laura Solomon's profile.
November/December 2010: - Added issue 6 to the Broadsheet section.; - Removed Mark Pirie's bibliography from his profile page, and moved details about non-HeadworX books he's written to his new personal website, markpirie.com.
July/August 2010: - Added information about Viet Nam: A Poem Journey and updated Jenny Powell's profile.; - Added information about A Tingling Catch and updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Updated Mark Pirie's profile.
May/June 2010: - Added information about The Pop Artist's Garland: Selected Poems 1952-2009 and added F W N Wright's profile.; - Added issue 5 to the Broadsheet section.
January/Febuary 2010: - Added information about Goya Rules and updated Harvey McQueen's profile.; - Added information about No Boat May Allow Drowning to Vanish: New Poems and updated Basim Furat's profile.; - Updated Stephen Oliver's profile.
November/December 2009: - Added issue 4 to the Broadsheet section.
May/June 2009: - Added issue 3 to the Broadsheet section.
July/August 2008: - Added information about Trespassing in Dionysia: Uncollected Early Poems 1993-1997 and Bottle of Armour: Early Poems/Lyrics 1992-1993, and updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Added information about Paneta Street and updated Michael O'Leary's profile.; - Added information about My Iron Spine and updated Helen Rickerby's profile.
May/June 2008: - Added information about 2008 Winter Readings; - Added information about It's Love, Isn't It? The Love Poems, added author profile for Meg Campbell and updated Alistair Te Ariki Campbell's profile.; - Added new Broadsheet section and issue 1
January/February 2008: - Added information about JAAM 25
Novemeber/December 2007: - Added information about Private Detective and updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Added information about Dream Boat: Selected Poems and updated Tony Beyer's profile.; - Added information about Speaking in Tongues and updated L E Scott's profile.
July/August 2007: - Added information about JAAM 24; - Updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Added information about All Blacks' Kitchen Gardens and updated Tim Jones' profile.; - Added information about Just Poetry, made it the latest release, and added Alistair Te Ariki Campbell's profile.; - Added information about 2007 Winter Readings; - Added information about The Search and updated Mark Pirie's profile.
November/December 2006: - Added information about Sounds of Sonnets, made it the latest release, and updated Michael O'Leary and Mark Pirie profiles.
September/October 2006: - Made Overnight Downpour the latest release, and updated the links page.; - Added cover images for Self-Titled and Overnight Downpour, and made Self-Titled the latest release.
July/August 2006: - Added information about Self-Titled, and added Tony Chad's profile.; - Added information about Overnight Downpour, and added Andrew Fagan's profile.; - Updated the Winter Readings page for 2006
January/February 2006: - Added information about Wellington Fool; - Various minor edits throughout site; - Added information about World Words, and made it the latest release; - Added profiles for T M Schaefer, Kevin Cudby and Catherine Boyle
November/December 2005: - Added cover image of Suchness: zen poetry and prose, and made it the latest release; - Added information about Mahones, and updated Michael O'Leary and Mark Pirie profiles.
September/October 2005: - Added information about Suchness: zen poetry and prose, and added Richard von Sturmer's profile.; - Added information about Daymoon, and added Robin Fry's profile.; - Added information about Your Secret Life, and updated Harry Ricketts's profile.
July/August 2005: - Updated Winter Readings info; - Updated links page; - Added information about JAAM 23; - Added information about London Notebook, and updated Mark Pirie's profile.
May/June 2005: - Added cover images for The Second Wellington International Poetry Festival Anthology, Natural Anthem, Nefarious and Make Love and War, and make the latter the latest release.; - Updated the JAAM submission address.; - Updated the submission guidelines.; - Updated the About JAAM page.; - Updated the contact phone number page.; - Added information about JAAM 22.; - Added new "events" section with information about the Winter Readings.; - Updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Added information about Blues For Sam, and updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Added information about The Bet, and updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Added information about The Angel Bus, and updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Added information about The Rose and Other Poems, and updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Added information about Poems for Poets, and updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Added information about Two Poems, and updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Updated Harvey McQueen's photo.
January/February 2005: - Added a couple of links to the link page.; - Added information about Make Love and War and updated Michael O'Leary's profile.; - Added information about Giving Poetry a Bad Name and updated Mark Pirie's profile.
November/December 2004: - Added a somewhat cryptic paragraph to Stephen Oliver's profile, as requested by the author...; - Added information about Nefarious and updated Vivienne Plumb's profile.; - Added cover image for Four French Horns and made it the latest copy; - Added various links to the link page, and updated the manuscript statement on the front page.
September/October 2004: - Added information about The Second Wellington International Poetry Festival Anthology, updated profiles for Ron Riddell, Saray Torres and updated Mark Pirie; - Minor edits to Here and There: A Selection; - Added information about Four French Horns and updated Jenny Powell-Chalmers' profile.
July/August 2004: - Added information about Here and There: A Selection and added Basim Furat's profile.
May/June 2004: - Added PDF copies of Salamanca, Nothing to Declare and The Century.; - Changed EYESIS email link on Contact page to a link to the webform on the EYESIS site.
March/April 2004: - Added PDF copies of Extreme Weather Events, Earth Colours, Rhyme Before Reason, Abstract Internal Furniture, Boat People, Chantal's Book, Our Bay of Ensigns and Toku Tinihanga; - Added information about Natural Anthem and added Leonard Lambert's profile.; - Added information about Over The Waters and added Moshé Liba's profile.; - Added information about Recessional and updated Harvey McQueen's profile.; - Added information about Bullet Poems and updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Made JAAM 21 "Greatest Hits" the Latest Release.
January/Febuary 2004: - Updated author photos for Jenny Powell-Chalmers, Tony Beyer and Scott Kendrick.; - Added information about JAAM 21 "Greatest Hits"
November/December 2003: - Updated Mark Pirie's profile; - Added information about JAAM 20
September/October 2003: - Updated Stephen Oliver's profile; - Added information about The First Wellington International Poetry Festival Anthology (and made it the latest release), added profiles for Ron Riddell and Saray Torres, and updated Mark Pirie's profile; - Altered formatting of sample poems for The Year Nothing and Summer on the Cote d'Azur; - Added cover image of The Year Nothing, and made it the latest release
July/August 2003: - Added David Howard's photo; - Added cover image of How to Occupy Ourselves, and made it the latest release; - Added information about Summer on the Cote d'Azur and added Alistair Paterson's profile.; - Added information about Gallery: A Selection and updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Added information about The Year Nothing and added Paul Hardacre's profile.
May/June 2003: - Added or replaced photos of Toku Tinihanga (Self Deception), Maketu, The Ballad of Fifty-one, Michael O'Leary and Mark Pirie.; - Made Toku Tinihanga (Self Deception) the latest release on the front page.; - Added information about Dumber.; - Added information about JAAM 19.
March/April 2003: - Added reviews of Michael O'Leary's previous book to Toku Tinihanga (Self Deception); - Added information about How to Occupy Ourselves and added David Howard & Fiona Pardington's profiles.
January/February 2003: - Added information about Toku Tinihanga (Self Deception) and added Michael O'Leary's profile.; - Added information about Maketu and added Terry Locke's profile.; - Added information about The Ballad of Fifty-one and added Bill Sewell's profile.
November/December 2002: - Added information about JAAM 18.; - Added information about Chantal's Book and added Jack Ross's profile.; - Added information about Swing and updated Mark Pirie's profile.
August 2002: - Added bibilography to Mark Pirie's profile.; - Added a couple of links to the links page.; - Added cover images of Storyteller and Boat People, and made the latter the front page latest release.; - Replaced photo of Mark Pirie, and amended news item about Simon Williamson.
July 2002: - Added information about Storyteller and added Simon Williamson's profile.; - Added information about Boat People and updated Tim Jones' profile.
June 2002: - Updated Stephen Oliver's profile.
May 2002: - Added information about JAAM 17.
March 2002: - Added information about the snow poems/your self of lost ground, made it the latest release, and updated Jeanne Bernhardt's profile.; - Added information about Reading the Will, and updated Mark Pirie's profile.
November/December 2001: - Added information about The Blues, and updated Mark Pirie's profile.; - Added information about Night of Warehouses, made it the latest release, and updated Stephen Oliver's profile.; - Added contents page of JAAM 16.; - Removed the FlyingPig links from each book detail page, as they've now gone bust.
September/October 2001: - Added information about Our Bay of Ensigns, and made it the latest release.
July/August 2001: - Added information about Abstract Internal Furniture, and made it the latest release.; - Added links from each book detail page to FlyingPig.co.nz, to enable visitors to buy the books online.
May/June 2001: - Added information about No Joke, and updated Mark Pirie's profile;; - Added contents page of JAAM 15;; - Added information about Rhyme Before Reason, and made it the latest release;; - Added information about Extreme Weather Events.
October/November 2000: - Added information about Hats, and made it the latest release;; - Added information about JAAM 14.
August/September 2000: - Added information about Talking Pictures, and made it the latest release.
June/July 2000: - Added Reviews to JAAM 10 and JAAM 13 contents pages;; - Minor corrections throughout site;; - Added submission guidelines to contact area;; - Replaced Diary with Earth Colours as latest release.