Tim Jones's Blog, page 12

Tuesday Poem: Above Armageddon

Above ArmageddonFrom the mezzanine, Armageddon SF convention, Wellington, 2008
In my daythere was less money to be parted from.
Now this whole placeis a trading floor,
awash in cash, cleavage,cosplay and testosterone.
*
Jesus, cross in hand,blesses the sellers of Devil Dice.
Japanese Death in a long white wigtotes his scythe past stands of PS3s.
John Rhys Davies' booming voiceechoes from a distant room.
*
The reef fish of the marketswim before my eyes.
My son goes dartingamong the channeled shoals.
Where will all this moneywash up, do you think, in the end?


Credit note: This poem appeared in my collection Men Briefly Explained (IP, 2011) and Kathleen Jones kindly published it as a Tuesday Poem on her blog in 2015.

Tim says: There were two science fiction conventions on in Wellington at Queen's Birthday Weekend. I took part in a poetry panel at the non-commercial one, Au Contraire, but the bigger of the two was Armageddon, which has been running for a good few years now. It's big and loud, and when I went there with my son in 2008, I couldn't cope, so sat up in the mezzanine writing the poem above.

In other news, I have finished my teaching commitments at Whitireia Polytech for the year - which should mean I have more time to post here.You can buy books by Tim Jones online! Voyagers: SF Poetry from NZ from Amazon.Transported (short story collection) from Fishpond or New Zealand Books Abroad.

Tuesday Poem: Kraken - now in the 2016 Rhysling Anthology

My poem "Kraken", below, which won second prize in the Interstellar Award for Speculative Poetry 2015, has now been included in the Science Fiction Poetry Association's 2016 Rhysling Anthology of the best science fiction, fantasy and horror poetry published in 2015. It's a fine-looking book and it's lovely to be in the company of many fine poets, not least Christina Sng and P. S. Cottier. My copy has recently arrived in the mail, and I'm looking forwards to reading the anthology.

Kraken

Millennia of sunlight passed the Kraken by.
He slept where he had fallen, each molecule
bound up in water ice, kept safe by permafrost
or the pressure of the deep. Kraken lay
unmoved beneath the waves, deep in his dreams
of fire and air, while the ice sat heavy on the poles
and the clever, clever apes, fizzing with language,
trudged northwards out of Africa.

Unperturbed slept Kraken as the glaciers withdrew.
Lapping at their tongues came the clever apes,
furred, speared, striding on. Wintering in caves,
they met and mated with their slow-tongued cousins,
gaining their immunities, their thicker skins.
Tinder sparked to flame in the wolf-howled night,
each tribe protected in its ring of fire,
but Kraken took no notice of such things.

Light disturbed Kraken’s millennial dreams,
sunlight no longer reflected by protective ice
but slanting down into the depths, unchecked,
warming the shallow seas, permafrost
proving to be less than permanent. In his sleep,
Kraken rolled over, farted, belched. Siberia trembled,
craters forming where none had been, methane
bursting skyward across the Arctic night.

The clever apes looked, and shrugged, and looked away.
They had bigger fish to fry: death, war,
their endless clawing at the Earth for fuel. Kraken
had been banished from their world. He was a relic of myth,
terror of the Greenland Sea, muse to Tennyson,
John Wyndham antagonist, large-boned
inhabitant of green-screened Greek epics,
set free to give Perseus something to kill.

The old Norse knew his nature well. Hafgufa
they named him, sea steam: and so he rose,
bubbling up beneath the circumpolar seas,
so much methane rising to warm the skies
that it roused him more, the loop reinforcing,
unstoppable, his coils releasing, sea floor gaping open,
undersea landslides lashing crowded coasts with waves,
the clever apes at last obliged to pay attention —

but too late. The Kraken is awake.
Flares light the Arctic night to write his name.
His is the fire that heats the deep, that scours the land
clean of everything that flies and walks and crawls —
the few survivors, vainly fleeing south,
hearing his voice forever louder at their backs.
The Kraken roars, and as he roars
soon every trace of clever ape is burned away.


This poem refers to “The Kraken Wakes” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1830).

Credit note: This poem was published for the first time on the Interstellar Awards website on 12 June 2015, and has subsequently been published in the 2016 Rhysling Anthology, edited by Charles Christian (Science Fiction Poetry Association, 2016).

You can buy books by Tim Jones online! Voyagers: SF Poetry from NZ from Amazon.Transported (short story collection) from Fishpond or New Zealand Books Abroad.

Tuesday Poem: Steady State, by Hugh Isdale

The machines took over.We devised themTo doEverything.Then we retreatedInto sterile pornography,And disappeared.
They are very efficient.They do not discuss guilt,Redemption,Or souls.They have turned the planetInto a gardenThat growsVery well.
Credit note: "Steady State" by Hugh Isdale was published in Poetry Notes, Summer 2016 (Volume 6, Issue 4) and is reproduced here by permission of the author and publisher.
Tim says: As well as his own poetry, Mark Pirie continues to be a very active promoter and historian of poetry - not least in bringing both new and neglected poets to light. He helped to found the Poetry Archive of New Zealand Aotearoa, which publishes Poetry Notes, and is also the publisher of broadsheet - Issue 17 of which has just been published.
Hugh Isdale is a Christchurch poet whose work is featured in the above issue of Poetry Notes. When Mark and I co-edited Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand in 2009, we made a valiant - and I hope largely availing - effort to consider work by every published NZ science fiction poet we could find as well as some then-unpublished ones, but we knew there must have been poets we missed - so it's good to be able to publish this thought-provoking poem by Hugh.

In less good news, it was sad to hear of the death of poet Ruth Gilbert (1917-2016). There's a fine obituary for Ruth on the PANZA site, which details her long and distinguished career as a poet:


Chief among her works is The Luthier sequence first published by Reed in 1966, a remarkable work detailing the musical appreciation in her family between the poet and her father, a maker of violins. The sequence shared the Jessie Mackay Memorial Prize for 1968 with James K Baxter. Three times Gilbert won the award.
Her other works such as her Lazarus sequence from Lazarus and Other Poems(1949) were widely acclaimed in New Zealand poetry circles. She also wrote poetry on her experiences in New York and Western Samoa.The PANZA site has Ruth's full obituary.You can buy books by Tim Jones online! Voyagers: SF Poetry from NZ from Amazon.Transported (short story collection) from Fishpond or New Zealand Books Abroad.

Time To Go Off The Page: Palmerston North City Library, 6.00 pm onwards, This Friday, 15 April

You can buy books by Tim Jones online! Voyagers: SF Poetry from NZ from Amazon.Transported (short story collection) from Fishpond or New Zealand Books Abroad.

Going Off The Page In Palmerston North, 15-16 April

I'm going to be taking part in two speculative fiction events in Palmerston North in mid-April: a panel on the evening of Friday 15 April with writer Jessica Richards as one of Massey University's regular Off the Page series of events, - and then a two hour workshop on writing speculative fiction at Palmerston North Library the following morning. Details:
Panel: 6.30pm on, Friday 15 April, Palmerston North City Library:
6.30pm: Reception
7.00pm: Panel discussion
8.00pm: Book signing 
Workshop: 10am-12 noon, Saturday 16 April, Palmerston North City Library (Writers who don't normally write speculative fiction are welcome to attend!)
For more details, contact Palmerston North City Library: http://citylibrary.pncc.govt.nz/about-us/contact-us/
I've enjoyed my two previous trips to Palmerston North to take part in poetry readings - and I'm looking forwards to a return visit that takes advantage of a different side of my writing.You can buy books by Tim Jones online! Voyagers: SF Poetry from NZ from Amazon.Transported (short story collection) from Fishpond or New Zealand Books Abroad.

Tuesday Poem: Soprano, by MaryJane Thomson

The gloved hand tapping the table, hiding its nail from the world, clawing to come out and show you things are never as they seem,the stage is set, they’re ready to  leave as you enter.
The gloves come off, time has passed, it’s all too late, no stool to sit on, just leather shoes on the floor board and a lone figure smoking, you wonder where they’re from, you know you ought to know,
You’re looking for a way out,like when at a party and someone enters you into a conversation,you see the exit,their foot hits the ground,you turn around, they shoot you dead square between the eyes.
The gloves go back on,the gun sits there, they leave a trace.


Credit note: "Soprano" by MaryJane Thomson is published in her collection Lonely Earth (HeadworX, 2015), which is available from HeadworX.

Tim says: Whether the "Soprano" in question is Tony I'm not sure, but I like this ominous, tightly wound poem from MaryJane's new collection.
MaryJane Thomson is an artist, writer and photographer living in Wellington, New Zealand. Her poems are from her second poetry collection Lonely Earth (HeadworX, 2015). Her website is www.maryjanethomson.com
MaryJane's poems have appeared in Black Mail Press, Valley Micropress and broadsheet. Her first book, a memoir Sarah Vaughan is Not my Mother (Awa Press, 2013), was widely reviewed in NZ papers/magazines. Kim Hill interviewed Thomson in 2013. In 2015, the international website Outcryer (USA) featured her poetry.

You can buy books by Tim Jones online! Voyagers: SF Poetry from NZ from Amazon.Transported (short story collection) from Fishpond or New Zealand Books Abroad.

My novella "Landfall" has been reviewed ... in Landfall!

In the week that Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his Oscar, I've had my own brush with a literary form of Inception: my novella "Landfall" has been reviewed in Landfall magazine (well, to be fair, the review is in the associated Landfall Review Online, but you get the point.)

Reviewer Michelle Elvy sets the scene:

The book opens with twin torpedoes sinking a rickety Bangladeshi river ferry carrying refugees just off the coast of New Zealand; and it follows two characters in alternating chapters towards an inevitable encounter with each other. We are first introduced to Nasimul, who survives not only the loss of his wife and son but also the sinking of the ferry and the ensuing firestorm of the determined New Zealand navy and finds himself, by the end of the first chapter, clinging to a remnant from a lifeboat, floating on the tide towards shore. The tone shifts dramatically when we come to the second chapter, in which we meet foul-mouthed Donna, a new and inexperienced recruit in the Shore Patrol who shows little potential but a good deal of enthusiasm.

and ends her review by saying:

Whether Nasimul and Donna will survive is one question, but also looming large at the heart of this timely tale is the dark space where fear of the unknown is met by firepower. Tim Jones deftly tackles the big themes of racism and xenophobia in the small space of this novella, and the reader is left with the unsettling knowledge that the problems that manifest in the littoral zone between first-world bravado and the needs of the rest of the world will not wash away with the tide.

For the most part, she likes what she reads, and as the author I found her review incisive and thought-provoking.

Thanks for this review, Michelle, and thanks to Landfall Review Online for publishing the review - and, of course, Paper Road Press for publishing the novella!

How to buy Landfall

You can buy Landfall as a standalone ebook - right now, it'll cost you $2.90 (US).You can also buy it in the Shortcuts: Track 1 anthology of six New Zealand speculative fiction novellas, edited by Marie Hodgkinson, available in ebook or paperback format.

Right, my path is clear. What should I start work on next: new literary novella "The Listener", Donald Trump biography "The New Yorker", or that adorable tale of a child who gets mixed up between his Grandpa and his Grandpa's first name, a little thing I like to call "Granta"?You can buy books by Tim Jones online! Voyagers: SF Poetry from NZ from Amazon.Transported (short story collection) from Fishpond or New Zealand Books Abroad.

Angela Oliver Reviews "Shortcuts: Track 1" For Booksellers NZ - And Likes What She Finds

The anthology Shortcuts: Track 1, which collected six New Zealand science fiction and fantasy novellas including my novella Landfall, has been getting good reviews, on Amazon and elsewhere.



Angela Oliver from Booksellers NZ has now reviewed Shortcuts: Track 1, and it's another good review. About the collection as a whole, she says:

The tales are diverse and engaging, long enough to immerse and engage the reader, but short enough to devour in a single sitting.

When it comes to "Landfall", she says:

We begin with ‘Landfall’ by Tim Jones, a chilling near-future tale. New Zealand has become a distant haven for refugees escaping a world altered by climate change. However, it is not, truly, a haven, for the beaches are patrolled, and outsiders − and those who aid them − are greeted with guns and hostility.

It's good to hear that Shortcuts: Track 1 continues to be well received. You can purchase it as a paperback or ebook from Amazon, or as a paperback through your local bookshop.

You can also purchase each novella individually as an ebook - including Landfall, which is $2.90 on Amazon right now.


You can buy books by Tim Jones online! Voyagers: SF Poetry from NZ from Amazon.Transported (short story collection) from Fishpond or New Zealand Books Abroad.

Act Now To Help Save Christchurch's Heritage and Notable Trees

Already know you want to help? Go directly to the Saving Christchurch's Heritage and Notable Trees Givealittle page.
As if Christchurch author Helen Lowe didn't have enough on her plate with Book 3 of her major fantasy series being published and coping with recurring Canterbury earthquakes, she is among a group of Christchurch citizens trying to save the city's notable and heritage trees. Right now, that group is trying to raise money to meet the costs of being represented before an Expert Hearing Panel. I know all too well how expensive and difficult it is for citizens to take part in such processes, and I have donated because I think this is an excellent cause to support. I hope you'll think likewise.

Spokesperson Andrew Robins said:

As if earthquakes are not enough, a small, committed group of citizens are having to try and save over 80% of Christchurch's scheduled Heritage and Notable trees from being delisted and losing any protection in the Christchurch Plan. There has been no public consultation on this proposal, and the Plan and Hearing process is being fast-tracked under Earthquake Recovery legislation and with only very limited right of appeal (on points of law only [not fact], to the High Court).

So they only have this one chance to save these special trees -- but although they have the Council back-peddling on their original plan, the trees aren't saved yet. Because it's not the Council that makes the decision.

All decision making lies with an Independent Hearing Panel. And to convince the Hearing Panel the group have had to present high-level expert evidence -- and still have to present the legal submissions that their case is sound. As you can imagine, this has all taken a huge amount of time and cost a great deal of money -- and the Panel may well require more input from the experts. To help fund raise, so they can keep speaking for Christchurch's (Notable) trees for as long as it takes, the group have set up a Give A Little page:

Saving Christchurch's Heritage and Notable Trees

I hope you'll take time to check it out and give as generously as you can.

Christchurch has lost so much of value over the past five years, that the loss of protection for so many significant trees feels like one more body blow in Christchurch’s post-earthquake "geography of loss."

Please share this post and the Give a Little link with as many people as possible. Christchurch's Heritage and Notable trees really need their help, too.

You can find more information on the blog of author Helen Lowe, who is supporting the campaign:
Post 1: It’s Book Release Week, And That’s Important — But So Is Speaking For The Trees
Post 2: Speaking for the Trees: Update 1
Post 3: Meet The Trees — Some of Christchurch’s Most Significant Trees Still Really Need Your HelpYou can buy books by Tim Jones online! Voyagers: SF Poetry from NZ from Amazon.Transported (short story collection) from Fishpond or New Zealand Books Abroad.

My review of "Best Small Fictions 2015" is now up on Beattie's Book Blog

Best Small Fictions 2015 is an anthology of the best small fictions published in 2015, from 6 to 1000 words - including a story by Waikouaiti author Jane Swan. Here is my review of Best Small Fictions 2015 on the estimable Beattie's Book Blog.You can buy books by Tim Jones online! Voyagers: SF Poetry from NZ from Amazon.Transported (short story collection) from Fishpond or New Zealand Books Abroad.