Tim Jones's Blog, page 17

Tuesday Poem: A Left Hook, by John O'Connor; In Memoriam John O'Connor

David Howard has alerted me to the sad news that Christchurch poet John O'Connor died recently. I didn't know John well, but I enjoyed talking with him when I was in Christchurch, and he kindly gave me the opportunity to feature his poem Johnny as a hub Tuesday Poem. It comes from his 2013 collection Aspects of Reality (HeadworX).

A few years earlier, I'd published John's poem "A Left Hook" on this blog, and I'm republishing it today as a tribute to John. In 2013, John made his own selection of his poetry available online, and an adapted version of his bio from that site is below:

John O’Connor was a Christchurch poet and critic. He was co-winner of the open section of the New Zealand Poetry Society International Poetry Competition in 1998 and winner of both the open and haiku sections of the same competition in 2006. In 2000 his fifth book of poetry, A Particular Context, was voted one of the five best books of New Zealand poetry of the 1990s by members of the NZPS. He was an editor for Canterbury Poets Combined Presses and was founding editor the poetry magazine plainwraps, co-founder of Sudden Valley Press and Poets Group, occasional editor of Takahe, Spin and the NZPS annual anthology. 

He was a past chair and long-term committee member of the Canterbury Poets Collective. His poetry has been widely published and is represented in Essential New Zealand Poems (Random House/Godwit, 2001). His haiku have been internationally anthologized and translated into eight languages. In 1997 he received an Honorary Diploma from the Croatian Haiku Association and in 2001 a Museum of Haiku Literature Award, Tokyo, for “best of issue” in Frogpond International, a special issue from the Haiku Society of America, featuring haiku from 52 countries and language communities.

A Left Hook

an early experience
of the left hook (admirably

tight if open-handed) came
at the beatific hand of

Monseigneur O'Dea - too
old to be a parish priest - who

about to impart the very
body & blood of Christ found I

was not holding the paten
correctly. a few years later

an equally irascible boxing
coach imparted impeccable

advice on how to throw it,
though he didn't know the bit

about feinting with Jesus.
when the good monseigneur

had his final photo taken
he bestowed a copy on our family

- old friends should be so blessed -
for a decade it sat on the mantelpiece

between a bunch of plastic grapes
& a glass bowl that snowed if shaken.

This poem is from John O'Connor's recently published Cornelius & Co: Collected Working-Class Verse 1996-2009 (Post Pressed, Queensland, 2010), which I also reviewed.

The Tuesday Poem: This week's poem is Albert Park by Alice Miller, a finalist in this year's Sarah Broom Poetry Prize (won by Diana Bridge).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.

New Zealand Poetry: Is It A Metropolitan Closed Shop?

As I blogged about last week, I was the guest reader at Hawke's Bay Live Poets on Monday night - and I had a great time! A number of people who had heard me read (and whom I had heard read) at the first New Zealand Poetry Conference held in nearby Havelock North in 2013 took part in the evening, plus many people I hadn't met previously.

The evening, compered by my welcoming and generous host Bill Sutton, started with a very high-quality open mike session - poems by turn moving, thought-provoking, and in at least one case absolutely hilarious. After the break it was my turn, and after a bit of a slow start - I hadn't read for quite a while, and it showed at first - I got more and more into it, and judging by the reaction of the friendly audience, they did as well - so I ended up feeling very pleased with how the night had gone.

Talking to people during the break and after the reading, I was reminded of my experience in 2011 when I was a guest at the Readers and Writers Alive! Literary Festival in Invercargill: in both Invercargill and Hawke's Bay, I met and heard writers whose work was clearly good enough to be published in magazines and anthologies and collected in book form, but who didn't think it was a realistic ambition for someone in their position to break into what they saw (not inaccurately, in my view) as the Wellington/Auckland literary axis.

The success of poets such as Marty Smith make it clear that this can in fact be done; but (I suspect) from the non-metropolitan parts of New Zealand, the "mainstream" of New Zealand literature seems like one cosy club where everyone knows and publishes everyone else, and which sets a high bar for 'outsiders' to jump. The reality might look different to those who live in the cities - in Wellington, for example, there are distinctly different, although sometimes overlapping, International Institute of Modern Letteres (IIML) and non-IIML scenes - but I suspect this view is more true than many of us would care to admit.

The 2013 New Zealand Poetry Conference, which Bill played a key role in organising, helped to break down those barriers: I hope and expect that the New Zealand Poetry Conference 2015, to be held in Wellington in November, will include poetic voices from across the country, and not just end up as another metropolitan talking shop.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.

Awwwright, Hastings! Here's One From The New Album!

Where: Hastings Community Arts Centre, 106 Russell Street, Hastings.

When: Monday 11 May, 8pm

What: I'm the guest reader  at the Hawke's Bay Live Poets' Society monthly meeting.

Contact: Bill Sutton, phone 06 844 4196, email suttb70 (at) gmail.com

Last year, I went to see Neil Young and Crazy Horse play at the Queen's Wharf Events Centre in Wellington. Knowing that Neil Young + Crazy Horse = the rockers, not the folkie stuff, I went along expecting powerchords, guitar solos, and feedback - and that's what I got (barring a short acosutic interlude in the middle).

But (when I could hear at all) I was amazed to hear people around me complaining "Why isn't he playing the hits? Where's A Man Needs A Maid? Where's Lotta Love?"

If this happens even when an artist is playing old but lesser-known material, imagine what it's like for the long-established band, going out on tour yet again, that tries to play material from its new album. Nobody wants that shit - they want the hits from twenty years ago! Sleater-Kinney seem to have avoided this in their recent reunion tour, but for most rockers of a certain vintage, the gap between musicians' expectations and audience reaction must be hard to take.

I may be ageing, but I'm not a rock star - what are those three preceding paragraphs even about? So when I read at the Hawke's Bay Poetry Society next Monday, I'm going to try out some of the new poems I've been writing this year - along with some poems that have been knocking around the "set" for a while.

I attended the first New Zealand Poetry conference in Hastings in 2013, and found the Hawke's Bay poetry audience to be knowledgeable and appreciative, so I'm not too worried about their reactions to "the new stuff" - though I can always distract them by stabbing a Hammond organ with knives:

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: Blame the victim, or how to flip over a sledge (a found poem), by John Howell

We were uncomfortablethey were nice to us in NZthey were nice to us the whole weekand we were uncomfortable
we were uncomfortablethey were nice to usI can’t stand this anymoreI’m not playing cricket like this
I said at the team meetingwe’re going at them as hard as we canI can’t stand this anymorewe were uncomfortable
In the final if we get a crack at themI’m letting everything outthey were nice to us that whole weekYou know what?  They deserved it.
words from Brad Haddin, Australian wicketkeeperDom Post, 2 April 2015

Credit note and poet bio: This poem is new and unpublished and is reproduced by permission of the author, John Howell.

John Howell lives in Ngaio, Wellington. Recently he retired from ministering at the Union Parish in Taupo. He has published two books of prayers. He has degrees in science, arts, theology, a diploma in Business Studies.
Tim says: The Cricket World Cup 2015 may have finished a few weeks ago now, and Australia were rightfully the favourites, but that final still burns!
The Tuesday Poem: This week, it's In Carbondale by Cliff Fell, selected by Harvey Molloy: both poem and discussion are well worth reading.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.

Flash of Iron

I'm happy to say that the April issue of Flash Frontier, which I edited, is now online. The theme I chose was "Iron", which as I'd hoped pulled in stories with many different takes on the subject.

In addition to the fiction, which I selected, there are two other aspects of this issue I can't take credit for. One is the excellent illustrations by Canadian artist Allen Forrest and other talented folks; another is the feature article this issue, which has news on flash fiction developments in Aotearoa followed by an excellent collection of tips on writing flash from authors and editors.

And if that inspires you, then you have until 30 April to enter the NZ National Flash Fiction Day competition!

Thanks as always to Michelle Elvy for giving the opportunity to guest-edit this issue.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: Two Creek Beach

It's past Fortrosewhere the Mataura Riversubsides to the sea in oxbow bends
past the golf course(nine holes, fairways cropped and obstacled by sheep)east of the headlands
and the perfect place for us.We've been coming here for yearsDad and I, and now my sister too
past low, flat, flax-rimmed Lake Georgeto the end of the gravel roadto Two Creek Beach and the sea.
Two creeks — well, they're streamsrivuletsbrown-stained with Southland peat
that cross the sandy beachthen a narrow lip of rockbefore giving their all to the waves.
Here's what we do: Dad skims stonesI dam and divert the streamsand Sarah —
who knows what younger sisters dowhile a dam is being made?She plays. I'm busy working.
The afternoon slides westwardtill Dad says it's time to go.We crawl towards the sunset
on the lonely south coast roadssunburned, tired, heading for the comfortof our tideless inland home.

Credit note: Published in  North & South, December 2005, p. 127, and included in my second collection, All Blacks' Kitchen Gardens.
Tim says: This poem pretty much describes itself. It's one of my Dad's favourites, which makes me more fond of it in retrospect too :-)
The Tuesday Poem: is Aotearoa Runaway by Leilani Tamu.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.

Lost In the Museum Has A Good Night At The Sir Julius Vogel Awards

The Sir Julius Vogel Awards are New Zealand's equivalent of the Hugo Awards, awarded for both professional and fan achievement in the field of science fiction and fantasy.*

The full list of winners, including the citation for the posthumous award to Hugh Cook, is here:

http://www.sffanz.org.nz/sjv/sjvResults-2015.html

Congratulations to all the winners!

From a personal perspective, it was great to see two awards (Best Collected Work and Best Cover) go to Lost in the Museum, the 2014 anthology which includes my story "The Big Baby". Here's more about the anthology:



I mentioned in a previous post that I have a story, "The Big Baby", in the recently published anthology Lost in the Museum, which has just received an excellent review by Lee Murray in the widely-read Beattie's Book Blog.

Lost in the Museum is now available in bookshops, including The Children’s Bookstore in Kilbirnie, Unity Books, and Marsden Books in Karori (Wellington) and Retrospace (Auckland). The ISBN is 978-0-473-28320-9, which will help you to order it from other bookshops.

Lost in the Museum is also available from Amazon as a Kindle ebook: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KTV5K0U

* The awards look cool, too:


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.

UPDATED: A Novella Approach To Publishing; or, The New Charles Dickens

See below for update!



My novella"Landfall" is one of six being published this year by Paper Road Press in their first "Shortcuts" series - Shortcuts Track 1. And, rather than having to buy the six novellas individually, you can subscribe to the series for NZ $3.33 per month.

Here is the lineup of authors and novellas:

Mika Lee Murray and Piper Mejia
Bree’s Dinosaur AC Buchanan
The Last Grant Stone
Pocket Wife IK Paterson-Harkness
Landfall Tim Jones
The Ghost of Matter Octavia Cade

This is an innovative approach to publishing - and yet it also reminds me of the 19th century, of Charles Dickens and his serialised novels, with tens of thousands of readers eager to get their hands on each new instalment. I wouldn't be averse to "Shortcuts" having a similar level of success!

UPDATE

From Paper Road Press' latest newsletter, here's some further information, plus cover images for the first three novellas in the series:

All SHORTCUTS novellas will be released as ebooks, one per month, available to purchase from all major ebook vendors. However, you can also subscribe to the series for a discounted price of NZ $3.33 per story, and receive the books direct to your inbox a few days before the official publication date.

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.

A Novella Approach To Publishing; or, The New Charles Dickens

My novella"Landfall" is one of six being published this year by Paper Road Press in their first "Shortcuts" series - Shortcuts Track 1. And, rather than having to buy the six novellas individually, you can subscribe to the series for NZ $3.33 per month.

Here is the lineup of authors and novellas:

Mika Lee Murray and Piper Mejia
Bree’s Dinosaur AC Buchanan
The Last Grant Stone
Pocket Wife IK Paterson-Harkness
Landfall Tim Jones
The Ghost of Matter Octavia Cade

This is an innovative approach to publishing - and yet it also reminds me of the 19th century, of Charles Dickens and his serialised novels, with tens of thousands of readers eager to get their hands on each new instalment. I wouldn't be averse to "Shortcuts" having a similar level of success!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: Folds, by Jo Mills

infidels of the sun     we watch folds
in this restless land     bake our beliefs
do we enter the new dry     or last ice age
of our imaginings     bright technology
whispers down invisible lines     turns our gaze
to wormholes     sucks our dusty imagery
into temporal twists     spatial vortices
the thrill of discovery   minute gyroscopes
most perfectly sphered     measure dimples
our Earth’s plump rump     sitting in a pillow
time/space sags     beneath her weight
opens new dimensions     in our minds
Saturn grows a storm     or is it humanity
at play     at war with its shadows
breaking its fronts     in bombs and blood
we flee to these folds     in a restless land
while solar flares grow     bright alignments
underscore the shudders     of tectonic plates
we watch folds pucker     oceans drag and pound
ah, the memory of water     bittersoft chaos as if
Shiva’s hand falls     echoes our flight we dance
on moving carpets     while polar caps melt
on Mars     droplets dissolve into the mirror
of our desire for migrancy     beyond borders
of a world grown small     fragile to human touch
infidels of the sun     set longer sights
unlock fantasy’s rim     fear and hope
sand shifts beneath our feet     we watch folds


Credit note: "Folds" was published in The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry, which I co-edited with P. S. Cottier (IP, 2014), and is reproduced by permission of the poet. The Stars Like Sand is available from the publisher and from amazon.com.au. If you're ordering through a bookshop that doesn't stock it, let them know the ISBN: 978-1-922120-78-6

Check out this excellent review of The Stars Like Sand in the Sydney Morning Herald.


Tim says: This is another of the fine poems we selected for The Stars Like Sand, and that would be quite enough reason to post it here, but there's another one: partly inspired by her inclusion in The Stars Like Sand and the quality of the anthology, Jo Mills decided to set up an international speculative poetry competition with very generous prizes. It's open for submissions now, and closes on 1 May. Check out the guidelines here:

https://interstellaraward.wordpress.com/interstellar-award-for-speculative-poetry/



About Jo Mills: Jo Mills is a speculative poet, short story writer and fantasy author (under the pen-name Joanna Fay). She recently founded Interstellar to host two annual awards for speculative poetry and fiction respectively, and to publish themed speculative fiction and poetry anthologies from 2016.

Jo lives in the Perth Hills, Western Australia, with her teenage son, two dwarf rabbits and a quail who thinks she's an eagle. She keeps an eye on the sky for starships and patiently awaits the arrival of her galactic family. Jo's author website can be found at http://joannafay.me/

The Hub Tuesday Poem: is Nest by Linda France, chosen by Helen McKinlay.

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.