New Zealand Poetry Society Launches Anthology

New Zealand Poetry Society Launches Anthology

The New Zealand Poetry Society (NZPS) announces the publication of its new anthology, A Savage Garden, a compilation of winning and commended poems and haiku from their 2002 International Poetry Competition.

Edited by Joanne Preston, A Savage Garden also includes selections by the editor. She said of the anthology: “These are poems from the blood and bone…the poets’ job is to remind us of both [childhood and adult] realities, so that we don’t patronise or romanticise our childhood…it is the world of the circus, the dreamscape.”

Contributors are from New Zealand, England, Australia, Russia, and the US. Entrants from around the world competed in three categories: Open, Haiku, and Junior Haiku, which was open only to students.

Margaret Vos, president of the NZPS, said that this anthology serves two purposes: increasing the exposure of New Zealand poets, and encouraging interaction among poets worldwide. In addition, she said, the competition “provides a reputable and open forum for poets to compete with new as well as established poets”. The competition winners “establish the quality of their work, and make their names more well-known -- and thus achieve positive profile. With the bad press poetry competitions have recently received, it is even more important for poets to have a reliable and well-regarded competition run in New Zealand.”

The paperback anthology is priced at $16.95 and can be ordered from Publications, NZPS, PO Box 5283, Lambton Quay, Wellington. Order forms are also available on the NZPS website (http://communities.msn.com/NewZealandPoetrySociety).

For nearly thirty years The New Zealand Poetry Society has been supporting New Zealand poets and poetry in its many forms. Centred in Wellington, the NZPS serves its national membership with a monthly newsletter which details meetings and poetry events around the country, holds a monthly meeting open to all members, and acts as a clearing house for competition information. The Society also runs an annual Poetry Workshop with an established poet as guest tutor. In 2002, poet and teacher Adrienne Jansen was the tutor. With the support of Creative New Zealand, the Society organises occasional tours of local and of overseas poets.

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