Tim Jones's Blog, page 40

An Interview With Janis Freegard

Janis Freegard is a Wellington-based writer of poetry and fiction. She was born in South Shields in the North-East of England and spent part of her childhood in South Africa and Australia, before her family settled in New Zealand. Her poetry collection, Kingdom Animalia: The Escapades of Linnaeus, was published by Auckland University Press in May. Her writing has appeared in many journals and anthologies including AUP New Poets 3, Big Weather: Poems of Wellington, Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand, The Iron Book of New Humorous Verse, The NZ Listener, Landfall, The North (UK), JAAM, Poetry NZ and Trout. She works in the state sector and lives in Vogeltown with an historian and a cat. She also has a blog: http://janisfreegard.wordpress.com



Janis' poem A Life Blighted By Pythons was my Tuesday Poem this week.

First things first: why Linnaeus?



I wanted the book to have some kind of structure. As the poems were about animals (or at least had an animal in them somewhere), it seemed like a good idea to arrange them according to their taxonomic classification. I'd learned a little about taxonomy at university and when I worked at the Department of Conservation (trying to prevent trade in endangered species).



Our modern classification system has so many categories, though, that I soon realised it was going to be too hard to write poems for every different class of animal. That's when I hit on using Linnaeus' six groupings (mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, insects and worms). Linnaeus was the eighteenth century Swedish naturalist who came up with the two-word classification system for plants and animals that we still use today (such as Homo sapiens for human beings).



Once I started organising the poems into the six categories, I decided to write about Linnaeus himself as well. He was an extraordinary man. I can't help but admire his commitment and tenacity in trying to categorise every plant, animal and mineral on the planet.



More generally, why zoology? (As someone who can proudly boast of being a BSc in Botany (Failed), I am naturally hoping that the other kingdoms will get a look-in in future collections. I can't help feeling that the Archaea, for example, are not well represented in contemporary poetry.)



I agree that the Archaea are sadly neglected, and I hope poets everywhere will rise to the challenge of remedying that! I have a Botany degree, so zoology might not seem like an obvious choice. But I do seem to write a lot of poems about animals and I thought the animal kingdom would be a good theme for a collection.

I very much enjoyed your selection of poems in AUP New Poets 3. Is there a lot of continuity between those poems and the poems in Kingdom Animalia, or do the new poems mark a sharp break with your previous work?



Thanks Tim. Several of my poems in AUP New Poets 3 have animals in them (such as the 'Animal Tales' sequence) so I do think Kingdom Animalia carries forward some of the strands from that selection. Both books also contain some prose poems and both have elements of surrealism.



If someone described you as a "nature poet", would you be pleased, alarmed, indignant, or unruffled?



I don't mind being described as a nature poet, but I'm not sure it gives the full picture. Perhaps I could be a sometimes absurdist nature poet who also writes about life in the city and love.



You are great at running fun, memorable book launches. How do you manage it?



Thanks Tim, and thanks for coming to the launch! I see a book launch as an excuse for a bit of a party - I want people to feel entertained and enjoy themselves. And the planning is just as much fun as the event. I had such a good time designing the invitation, choosing the venue, making the fresh asparagus rolls and dressing up in a bird mask (like the one on the cover of the book). I also had some great helpers on the night.



My knowledge of your work is mainly through your poetry, but it is bookended by fiction; I first heard your name when your story "Mill" won the Katherine Mansfield Award in 2001, and I've just received my copy of the Christchurch earthquake appeal fundraising anthology Tales for Canterbury, which includes your story "The Magician". Have you kept writing fiction as well as poetry?



Yes, I've always enjoyed writing both poetry and fiction, although at times one takes precedence over the other. Poetry had the upper hand while I was focusing on Kingdom Animalia and now I'm getting back into fiction a bit more. I haven't written many short stories over the past few years, though, as I've been focusing on writing a novel. Sometimes the lines between poetry and fiction get a bit blurry - I like writing prose poems, which seem to belong in the grey area between the two.



Is being a member of a writing community important to you, or could you work away just as happily in isolation from other writers?



I really value opportunities to interact with other writers. I belong to a long-standing poetry group that meets monthly to share poems and give each other feedback. I often take along poems that aren't quite working and it's very useful to hear others' thoughts on how I might improve them. It also means I get to read everyone else's excellent poems. I also enjoy being part of the New Zealand Poetry Society and going along to Poetry at the Ballroom Café in Newtown.



I belong to a great fiction writing group too, which has been meeting for about eight or nine years. I could work away quite happily on my own, but it is good having the groups. They also act as a helpful spur to write.



Which poets would you recommend to readers who enjoy your poetry?



People who like my poetry might also like Vivienne Plumb's work (I know I do) and Mary Cresswell's (ditto). I have too many favourite poets to list them all (and my poetry mightn't have much in common with theirs) but I'd have to include (alphabetically) Simon Armitage, Jenny Bornholdt, Selima Hill, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Roger McGough and Bill Manhire. I like punk era performance poets too, like Patti Smith, John Cooper Clarke and Linton Kwesi Johnson. And I'll go and watch Sam Hunt read any time I can.



Similarly, who are some of your favourite fiction writers?



Jeanette Winterson's top of the list - there's one of her short stories (The 24-Hour Dog from The World and Other Places) that I have read over and over and every time I read it, I think: I might as well give up writing now because I'll never be able to write something that good! Sometimes I just read the first paragraph and sigh because it's so wonderful. I'm also a big fan of Canadian writer Jane Rule (one my favourite books is This is Not for You), Jean Watson (Stand in the Rain, The World is an Orange and the Sun, The Balloon Watchers, Three Sea Stories), Noel Virtue, Lewis Carroll, Banana Yoshimoto (I've just finished reading The Lake), Ronald Hugh Morrieson, Haruki Murakami, Sarah Waters and Tove Jansson (better known for the Moomin books, but her adult fiction is also wonderful, in a very understated, quiet way). I could rave on, but I'll stop there.



Finally, if you don't mind me asking, what projects are you working on now?



I'm working on two poetry collections (which may converge eventually) and I'm finishing the first draft of a novel. I'm also planning a collaboration with an artist.



How To Buy Kingdom Animalia



Kingdom Animalia is available from most book shops that have a good poetry selection, such as Unity Books, university bookshops and Te Papa, and many online booksellers, including Fishpond and Wheelers, or people can get it directly from Auckland University Press.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: A Life Blighted By Pythons, by Janis Freegard

 



waiting at the bus-stop

all I can think about

is how my hovercraft is full of eels



but it's not, of course it's not

my hovercraft is practically empty

my eels are few



in fact they're not eels at all

but a netload of whitebait

and it isn't even a hovercraft



I've never owned a hovercraft in my life

I wouldn't know what to do with one

it's not even a dinghy



it's a reusable eco-friendly shopping bag

and they're definitely not eels

and not even whitebait



the truth is, I've never been whitebaiting

they're just vegetables

and I only have one thing to say:



your eels

my hovercraft

now, baby, now



Credit note: "A Life Blighted By Pythons" is republished by permission of the author and of Auckland University Press from Janis Freegard's first solo collection, Kingdom Animalia: The Escapades of Linnaeus.



Tim says: I am reading Janis's marvellously entertaining collection at the moment, and I love this poem so much not only because of its intrinsic qualities, but also because of the shared cultural heritage it so vividly evokes. You can catch more of Janis's wit and wisdom in my interview with her, which I'll be posting later this week.



You can read all the Tuesday Poems on the Tuesday Poem blog - the featured poem is on the centre of the page, and the week's other poems are linked from the right-hand column.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.

Do You Love Reading? The Altrusa Literacy Quiz

 

Official announcement:



Do you love reading?



The Altrusa Club of Wellington presents a Literacy Quiz fund raiser to benefit Storylines, who promote the importance of reading and literature for children, and Literacy Aotearoa, who are adult literacy providers. Celebrate International Literacy Day in style at the Amora Hotel on Thursday the 8th of September from 7pm.



Support your local community and test your knowledge alongside our special guests; Tessa Duder, Tim Jones, Martin Bosley and more [TJ notes: This modest 'more' includes Jenny Pattrick and Elizabeth Knox!]. Invite a friend or gather a team, but be sure to get your ticket to be in to win over $2500 in prizes.



Buy tickets and find out more at http://www.altrusa.org.nz/literacyquiz.html



Join the Facebook event, and invite your friends, at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=220369684647916



Tim says: I like quizzes! Especially if the questions are about international cricket averages (1969-2011), the members of 1970s bands - did you know that Ari Up of The Slits (a sad loss to the world last year) was the stepdaughter of Johnny Rotten? - and the science fiction of R L Fanthorpe.



I'm not sure I'll be getting too many questions in those categories in the Altrusa Literacy Quiz: in fact, the questions are divided into these categories:



Cool Characters



Our favourite fictional characters



Number Crunchers



Do your answers add up?



Classic Literature



What's in a name? They used to call me Piggy!



Catching the Current



Off the page, do you know what's going on in the world?



Silver Screen



Was it better as a book?



I think it'll be a fun night. If you'll be in Wellington on 8 September, it'd be great if you could come along.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.

An Interview With Laura Solomon

Laura Solomon is the author of three novels - Black Light, Nothing Lasting and An Imitation of Life - one short story collection, Alternative Medicine, and a poetry collection, In Vitro. She has won prizes in the Bridport, Ware Poets, Willesden Herald and Edwin Morgan competitions and won first Prize with Proverse Publishing in 2009 for her novella Instant Messages. Proverse Publishing have also accepted the two sequels to Instant Messages, another novel entitled Hilary and David and a short story collection entitled The Shingle Bar Taniwha and other stories.

Laura's poem Janet Frame's Adversaries Have Their Way. Janet is Lobotomised and Spends Her Life Selling Hats in Oamaru. was my Tuesday Poem this week.



Laura, you are best known as a writer of fiction, and in vitro is your first collection of poetry. Have you been accumulating the poems in this collection for a while, or have they all been written recently?



I wrote the poems between 2006 and 2009.



For those who don't know your work, how would you describe your poetry – does it follow a particular style or poetic tradition?



Fairly experimental, but also quite lyrical.

While I was reading in vitro, I noted down descriptions like 'clinical', 'forensic', and 'disenchanted' – though, lest this make the book appear too gloomy, many of the poems are also very entertaining! But do you think these adjectives can fairly be applied to these poems?



Some of the poems are quite bleak or severe in subject matter, but lightened up with comedy.



I see that you have published several novels as e-books in Hong Kong. Was it a difficult decision to have them published in e-book format, and are you happy with the result?



Happy with e-book for Hilary and David, not sure yet whether the sequels to Instant Messages are going to be ebook or normal printed book yet.



I have the impression – forgive me if I'm wrong – that you, like I, write fiction that doesn't fit neatly into the categories that New Zealand publishers, and perhaps other international publishers, are comfortable with. Do you ever think "Oh, if only I'd written good old realism", or, "time to get cracking on that paranormal romance"?



No, I just write what I feel like and hope for the best.



How do you think the publishing scene overseas compares to the New Zealand scene, particularly in its hospitality to work that doesn't fit neat category definitions?



Just the same, difficult to break into UK market, none of the agents or publishers seem interested, so I just keep entering UK competitions from NZ. Seem to do better in comps, than just straight submitting to agents and publishers, not sure why.



Which (if any) poets would you describe as influences on your work?



Atwood, Rich, Plath.



How about writers of fiction?



Atwood, Angela Carter, Jeanette Winterson.



If you have the opportunity, what direction(s) do you see your writing heading in next?



That's a secret!! ☺



Book availability



Laura's collection in vitro is available from HeadworX, and there are more publication details of Laura's other books on Beattie's Book Blog - check the first comment.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: Janet Frame's Adversaries Have Their Way. Janet is Lobotomised and Spends Her Life Selling Hats in Oamaru., by Laura Solomon

 



What good would she have been anyway,

left the way she was, full of dotty ideas, half-crippled by madness?

There're enough raving lunatics in the world,

we don't need one more curly-haired crazy,

lolloping about the streets, spilling prophecy.



What good would she have been anyway,

claiming to be from her Kingdom by the Sea,

perching on gravestones in the Otago Cemetery,

staring into the far distance,

like somebody who could see something we couldn't?



And see her there, so happy, all her pain chopped out, eradicated,

along with all her brilliance. Smiling, always smiling – so what if the eyes look dead?



It's not visionaries the world needs, but hat sellers.



She was something that could not blend in,

too many sharp angles, too many gaudy colours,

and gawd that hair,

but anything, you'll find, can be reduced to black and white,

anything can be shoved into a box,

it's just a question of how much has to be chopped off

in order to get it to fit.



After all, anybody can write a book. It's retail work that's tricky,

all those numbers to add up and subtract,

when you tally up at the end of the day (that's if they choose to grant you such power),

all those hats to keep in those tidy little piles,

same colours, same shapes, all together, all neat,

a place for everything. Everything in its place.



All those people to so faithfully serve.



Don't ask me who made the mould – somebody else, a long, long time ago.

Who cares now, when that thing was created, or how?

we all managed to squeeze ourselves into it,

so why shouldn't she be forced to do the same?



Who cares what she could've or would've achieved,

left to her own devices?



The important thing is that we maimed her while we had the chance,

before she grew too big for the boots we wanted her in.



O please now, children, don't make a fuss,

She could've been one of the greats, they said,

now she's one of us.



Note: This poem is published in Laura Solomon's collection in vitro (HeadworX, 2011). Look out for my interview with Laura later this week.



You can read all the Tuesday Poems on the Tuesday Poem blog - the featured poem is on the centre of the page, and the week's other poems are linked from the right-hand column.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.

Good Things Happen Too

 

When I'm not doing my day job, I spend a lot of my time dealing with and thinking about things that aren't good - plans to fuck up the climate or fuck up our communities (and the climate) in the name of profit and an outdated, Father Knows Best view of this country's future.



Bad things happen in the writing side of my life too - rejections, bright ideas that don't work out - but lots of good things happen too, and it's always great to come back to them and see how different projects are progressing.



So, here are some good waves that are on the crest of breaking.



Slightly Peculiar Love Stories



Penelope Todd of Rosa Mira Books has pulled together a remarkable range of authors to contribute to this anthology, which does what it says on the tin: love stories, with a twist. I'm delighted that my story "Said Sheree" - a love story, with literary funding - is included in that number.



Slightly Peculiar Love Stories will be available as an ebook very soon. In the runup to its release, Penelope has been running a series of guest posts by the anthology's contributors on the Rosa Mira Books blog. They make entertaining reading, and great tasters for the book!



Tales For Canterbury



I've blogged about fundraising anthology Tales for Canterbury, which includes my story "Sign of the Tui", before. It's now out in the world and doing very well. There are a couple of excellent reasons to buy it: one is the continuing need for donations to Christchurch earthquake relief, which is where the book's proceeds will be going; and one is the excellence of the stories.



I've banged on about this topic long enough, so instead of paying attention to me, I suggest you check out this reader review of the anthology from LibraryThing or listen to this recent Radio NZ Arts on Sunday interview about the anthology with two of the authors represented, Amanda Fitzwater and Matt Cowens.



Then I suggest you head straight over to the publisher's website and get yourself a copy.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.

Today Is Deadline Day

 

A quick reminder, folks: today is the final day to submit poems to "Eye to the Telescope 2", the online anthology of speculative poetry from New Zealand and Australian poets that I'm editing. Submissions close at midnight today, New Zealand time.



I'm looking forward to reading all the submissions once the deadline has passed - if you want to make sure yours is among them, check out the first issue of Eye to the Telescope and the submission guidelines.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: 256 Words For Snow, by Mary Cresswell

 

I'm inclined to tow the line, you opined, dismantling

            the spyglass and putting it into the icebox we

            kept for that season.



I stormed out.



This was not what I had in mind as, armed only with

            a memory stick, I considered possible forays

            into the outside world. The blizzard clattered

            frozen water and blazed around the windows.



Exercising demons is not one of my skills, but I

            excepted this. Perhaps the hexagonal flakes

            will cease their incessant fall upon the

            coruscating rink.



Perhaps none of this is true.



I put my ear to the wall of the cabin and ascertained

            that what I heard was sound. The shape is

            troped in the shaven ice, you cried, and we

            will all be quashed.



Nonsense, I snapped, cutting your fine Italian

            hand off at the wrist and tossing it across

            the estuary. We must swing through the

            slush fund, take what we can, and proceed

            according to precedent. There is no other way.



The ship rocked, as if in answer.



You began to nibble my ear lobe, and I leaped

            back. Outside outside, I cried and cried. You

            collected the tears as they rattled down like

            crystal beads into the bilges. We dragged up a

            try-pot and commenced fire.



A full moon shone as the storm moved north-

            northwest, seeking a kinder sunset. As we

            sank our starveling selves into the pleasures of

            the boil, I elucidated the stars: The Dog and

            the Bear. The Dipper. The Dongle, the Bilge

            Pump.



We dined on fried snow and were glad.



Credit note: "256 Words For Snow" is published in Mary Cresswell's new collection Trace Fossils.



Tim says: After I interviewed Mary about her new book recently, I've had the pleasure of reading it - in fact, I just finished it tonight, and I enjoyed it very much. There are a lot of tremendous poems in there, but this one really popped out for me. Of all the many things I like about it, the thing I like about it most is that it mentions memory sticks and dongles - but then, I'm known to be easily amused.



You can read all the Tuesday Poems on the Tuesday Poem blog - the featured poem is on the centre of the page, and the week's other poems are linked from the right-hand column.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.

Sir Julius Vogel Awards 2011: Congratulations To The Winners!

 

The 2011 Sir Julius Vogel Awards - New Zealand's annual awards for science fiction, fantasy and horror - were awarded at Queen's Birthday Weekend at ConText, New Zealand's 2011 national Science Fiction Convention.



I didn't attend the Con, and didn't have anything on the ballot, but I am glad to see some friends and familiar names among the winners. Congratulations, one and all! Here's the official press release announcing the results, with some links I've added.



Sir Julius Vogel Awards for New Zealand Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror



2011 Results Announced



The Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand (SFFANZ) is pleased to announce the winners of this year's Sir Julius Vogel Awards. Categories and winners in each category are listed.



Professional Awards Section



Best Novel - Adult



Joint Winners:



The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe (Orbit)



The Questing Road by Lyn McConchie (Tor Books)





Best Novel - Young Adult



Winner : Summer of Dreaming by Lyn McConchie (Cyberwizard Publications)





Best Short Story



Winner: High Tide At Hot Water Beach by Paul Haines

(A Foreign Country: New Zealand Speculative Fiction), Random Static





Best Novella/Novelette



Winner: A Tale Of The Interferers – Hunger For Forbidden Flesh by Paul Haines

(Sprawl Anthology)





Best Collected Work



Winner : A Foreign Country: New Zealand Speculative Fiction

Edited by Anna Caro and Juliet Buchanan, Random Static





Best Professional Artwork



Winner: Frank Victoria – Tymon's Flight cover

(HarperCollins Publishers Australia)





Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form



Joint Winners:



This Is Not My Life – Pilot Episode



Directors: Rob Sarkies & Pete Salmon

Executive Producers: Gavin Strawhan, Rachel Lang, Steven O'Meagher & Tim White

Producer: Tim Sanders

Associate Producer: Polly Fryer



Kaitangata Twitch – Pilot Episode



Production Shed TV

Producer: Chris Hampson

Director/Executive Producer: Yvonne Mackay

Executive Producer: Dorothee Pinfold, Jan Haynes

Associate Producer: Margaret Mahy

Writer: Gavin Strawhan, Michael Bennett and Briar Grace-Smith

Actors: Te Waimarie Kessell, George Henare





Best Professional Publication



Winner: White Cloud Worlds Anthology

Edited by Paul Tobin





Best New Talent



Winner: Karen Healey





Fan Awards Section





Best Fan Production



Winner: Doctor Who Podcast

Paul Mannering

Broken Sea Productions





Best Fan Writing



Winner: Jacqui Smith

Musings From Under The Mountain and Novazine Contributions





Best Publication



Winner: Novazine

Edited by Jacqui Smith





Special Awards





Services to Fandom



Winner: Ross Temple





Services to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror



Winner: Simon LittenYou 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: The Stars, Natasha

 

Natasha, fundamentals are strong,

key indicators steady.

Leave your books, Natasha,

let your computer

draw patterns on its screen.



Walk with me through the heavens.

Along cold orbits

the spendthrift stars

squander their assets on light.

The World Bank



is unamused; the IMF

is noting down their names.

So take my hand

let's drift away

into the cosmic background.



Credit note: This poem, included in my first poetry collection Boat People, was republished in Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand, edited by Mark Pirie and Tim Jones (Interactive Press, 2009).



Tim says: With eight days to go until submissions close for my latest venture in speculative poetry, I thought I'd post a speculative poem of my own. It was written when World Bank- and IMF-inspired economic "reforms" were devastating the post-Soviet Russian economy, and laying the groundwork for the kleptocracy that runs Russia today.



Nevertheless, it's more of a love poem than anything else...



You can read all the Tuesday Poems on the Tuesday Poem blog - the featured poem is on the centre of the page, and the week's other poems are linked from the right-hand column.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.