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HeadworX NewsMarch 2010HeadworX starts 2010 with two exciting new releases: No Boat May Allow Drowning to Vanish by Basim FuratBasim 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 McQueenGoya 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 2008The 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 2008HeadworX 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 2008broadsheet 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 2007The 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 2007HeadworX 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":
Both books will be launched at Winter Readings, an annual event in Wellington during August and September. December 2006The 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 2006August 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 2006February 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 2005This 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
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