By Gill Ward and Elizabeth Coleman

The wonderful Trish Harris

Wasn’t it a delight to be present when Trish Harris was our guest for July? We were spell-bound. What more can we say than these two comments from notable poets, referring to “My Wide White Bed” from which Trish read: Glenn Colquhoun describes the collection as a “poetic memoir”, showing “how crucial imagination is to being well”. 

 Jenny Bornholdt says: “With a sharp eye and an ear alert to language and tone, Trish Harris gives us this sequence of brave, often funny poems, detailing a lengthy stay in hospital. We feel the mood of the ward, sense the fear underlying the casual comment, rejoice in the kindness of staff and wish the tea lady could get a break. The reader is left with a sense of a time and place, and an experience deeply felt.”

Open Mic sessions – a plea!

As usual, our Open Mic session was well-supported, and included a wonderful variety of styles and themes. We do not want to put anyone off – we are a welcoming bunch of poetry-lovers — but PLEASE, don’t read anything over one page long. (We know you’re sick of hearing this, but we need to remind poets that we want everyone to have an opportunity to share, without compromising the guest slot and to leave enough of an ‘interval’ so that people can order drinks or snacks. Although we ‘tip’ the café, they provide the café and their staff – after hours – to us for free).

Kate Camp featuring later in the month

As fitting finale to National poetry week we have Kate Camp as our August guest poet. 

Poets to the People Robert Harris Café, 4- 6 pm Sunday, 25 August

The posters are up around Kapiti now with some information about Kate but here is her bio:

A wild, imaginative energy flares throughout the collection. Kate Camp is a fearless writer. Judges’ comments, New Zealand Book Awards.

Kate Camp is a Wellington-born poet, author of six collections of poetry from Victoria University Press: Unfamiliar Legends of the Stars (1998), Realia (2001), Beauty Sleep (2005), The Mirror of Simple Annihilated Souls (2010), Snow White’s Coffin (2013), and The internet of things (2017). 

Unfamiliar Legends of the Stars, won the NZSA Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry in 1999. The Mirror of Simple Annihilated Souls won the 2011 New Post Book Award for Poetry. Snow White’s Coffin was shortlisted for the award in 2013, and The internet of things longlisted in 2018. 

Camp’s poems have appeared in journals in New Zealand and internationally and in anthologies including Essential New Zealand Poems; 121 New Zealand Poems; New Zealand Love Poems and The Best of Best New Zealand Poems.

Camp was appointed Writer in Residence at Waikato University in 2002. In 2011 she received the Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers Residency and in 2017 received the Katherine Mnasfield Menton Fellowship. 

Essays and memoir writing have appeared in journals including The Griffith Review, Sport, North and South and Women of Letters. The essay “I wet my pants” was a finalist in the Landfall essay competition in 2018. 

Camp is also known as the voice of “Kate’s Klassics” – discussions of classic literature with Radio New Zealand’s Kim Hill. She has broadcast the regular segment since 2001. 

So there you see it – Kate comes with a pretty solid c.v. We are fortunate!

As a tribute to National Poetry Day the Paraparaumu Library is hosting an early evening poetry event.

Open Mic Poetry Night

Join us to celebrate Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day!

Friday 23 August 2019, Paraparaumu Library, 5.30 – 6.30 pm

We will mark the day with an open mic session, where anyone is welcome to read their poems to a live audience, and hear poems read aloud from other poets

This will be followed by an announcement of the Kāpiti Coast District Libraries 7th Annual poetry competition  “If you’re a poet we want to know it!” 

Prize winners, and presentation of prizes. The winning poems will be read aloud also.

“Peat chronicles the expressway build

Further to that news the Friends of the Library are also holding an event on Sunday 18 August at 2 pm in the Paraparaumu Library meeting room, this is to introduce Lynn Jenner’s new book Peat. 

This book starts out as Lynn Jenner’s study of the Kapiti Expressway, built between 2013 and 2017 and passing, at its nearest point, about a kilometre from her own house. She decides to create a kind of archive of the construction of this so-called Road of National Significance. 

How did it come to be built? She presents us with poems and essays and links to Charles Brasch in this thoughtful and timely volume. Lynn will talk about her intriguing book to an audience who is intimately involved in the whole process of seeing our expressway evolve.

Check out Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day! Lots and lots of events and competitions.

If people running around charging at each other, butting heads, trying to pass the ball and kicking it elsewhere isn’t your thing (we’re not talking about the council elections 🙂 ) then here’s the first of three rather more cultural posts:

This afternoon at 2:30 pm, Memorial Hall

Levansa Trio with Lev Sivkov (cello)
“…Lev Sivkov’s cello sound has a graininess, a density, a weight. He deploys a broad spectrum of colours and emotions, he makes his instrument sing in a rare way, his intonation is never found lacking, Yes, he is a phenomenon.” (ConcertoNet.com.)

Programme
Debussy: Sonata for violin and piano in G minor
Grieg: Andante con moto (for violin, cello & piano) in C minor
Myaskovsky:  Sonata No 2, Opus 81, for cello and piano
Beethoven: Piano Trio, Opus 97 “Archduke”

The brilliant young Russian cellist Lev Sivkov will be visiting New Zealand to play concertos with regional orchestras and while he is here will give some chamber music concerts with recently appointed Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Concertmaster Andrew Beer and the highly respected pianist Sarah Watkins. Combining their musical talents to form the Levansa Trio, they will be playing an attractive programme of works by Debussy, Grieg, Duparc and Beethoven.

Lev Sivkov has won numerous awards, most notably in 2015 when he won the prestigious Naumburg International Cello Competition, described by the New York Times as “the most prestigious of them all.”

He played his debut recital in the Weill Music Room, Carnegie Hall, in 2016. Since then he has been in demand as a recitalist and soloist and has also been appointed as Principal Cellist of the Zürich Opera.

Violinist Andrew Beer has come to New Zealand from L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. His recent recital and chamber music appearances include Edinburgh Festival, Aspen Festival and Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall.

Sarah Watkins, well known as a member of NZTrio, has been described as a ‘national treasure’. She has enjoyed an impressive career as chamber musician, collaborative partner and recording artist.

(from the Waikanae Music Society website which has info and ticket details.)

Buildings of the Ryman complex (Charles Fleming) are in the background.

Some readers in nearby streets will remember a council leaflet drop about this, the main part of which was an invitation to vote for one of two slide designs (see below): the one on the left was apparently preferred over the long slide in a tube and this installation was done near the end of June.

For some reason, the location was moved from close to the recently created Waipunahau Street, where there were a couple of existing swings, to the middle of the open area.  According to the blue sign (click for the full view), the swings, which weren’t old, are being given ‘a bit of a spruce up’ and the little mound of dirt visible will be ‘shaped and landscaped.’

It does not seem as if the seat and the drinking fountain near Waipunahau Street are being moved, however.

(Thanks to Margaret Stevenson-Wright.)

By Roger Childs

Bledisloe Cup on the line

The All Blacks got an unexpected hiding last Saturday and have to win tonight to retain the trophy they have held for seventeen years. The Wallabies outplayed the visitors in Perth, admittedly helped by the red carding of Scott Barrett. However, they probably would have won anyway as they were the superior side in the first half when both teams had 15 players.

So it’s all on at Eden Park and the Wallabies with a win or draw will take the Cup. The All Blacks haven’t lost a test on the hallowed turf in Auckland since the 1990s and will be desperate to keep that record intact.  Not surprisingly, the selectors have made changes to the starting fifteen and the bench, with Ben Smith, Reiko Ioane and Owen Franks being dropped.

A winning combination?

The All Black team is a very good one. There is real excitement on the wings in George Bridge and Sevu Reece as they are players who are not only fast and enterprising, but are always looking for work. Sonny Bill Williams at second five needs to front up with strong tackling and good feeds to his outsides. He must show that he is worth taking to Japan and a couple of off-loads won’t do it. 

The forward pack has to front up from the start and gain the initiative – Sam Cane for one needs a much improved performance on last week. Patrick Tuipulotu replaces the disgraced Scott Barrett at lock and will partner evergreen Sam Whitelock. His 120 kg in the tight five at scrum and maul time will hopefully help the All Blacks to gain at least parity and hopefully the ascendancy in the forwards. 

Richie Mo’hunga is still learning the trade at first five at the international level, but gets another chance in the key backline position and will no doubt take the goal kicks. The home side has a very strong bench which has been a hallmark of All Back teams in recent years.  These players should be jumping out of their skin when they come on in the second half. Good to see Jordie Barrett there – he has done some idiotic things in the past like the stupid quick throw-in against the Springboks last year which led to a try by du Preez, however he combines well with his brother and is a potential match winner.

A side good enough to win the Cup?

It should be, as there will no lack of motivation to avenge last week’s embarrassing defeat, in front of the sell-out home crowd. However, the Wallabies will be highly motivated knowing that the All Blacks are beatable.

For the home side discipline is crucial, as aside from the red card there were too many dumb penalties given away last week. They also need to have 15 players on the field throughout as a red or yellow card immediately put the opposition at an advantage. Back in the World Cup final four years ago, the yellow carding of Ben Smith resulted in 14 points to Australia in ten minutes and only a brilliant solo try by Ma’a Nonu sealed the match for the All Blacks.

If the Wallabies do win tonight against the strong New Zealand side they will thoroughly deserve the Bledisloe Cup.

You can see who they are on this KCDC webpage

In Waikanae there are 4 candidates for the council seat as there were in 2016, but only two — Michael Scott, the incumbent, and his prime challenger, Iride McCloy — stood last time.

For the community board there are 8 candidates, only 2 of them incumbents (James Westbury and Jocelyn Prvanov). The challengers are Geoffrey & Margaret Stevenson-Wright, Eric Gregory, who was the Chair over 2015-2016 when he was unseated by voters, plus 3 largely unknowns who have not previously stood for anything.

Incumbent WCB members Jeremy Seamark and Tonci Begovich are not seeking reelection; in Jeremy’s case he is still recovering from a brain aneurysm that afflicted him at the beginning of 2018; and in the latter case it’s disillusionment with the role coupled with the need to build his business.

District-wide there are 3 challengers to Mayor Guru and 14 candidates for the 5 district-wide seats. Sitting Crs Buswell, Cardiff, Elliott and Holborow are trying again. David Scott was a councilor until June when the Appeal Court unseated him, but is trying again.

Cr Cootes in Otaki is also trying again — and will probably be successful: although we have clashed with him on issues, he is hard working.

Cr Benton is trying again in Paraparaumu, but we think has a real contest with the other 3 candidates for the 2 ward seats.

Cr Holborow has vacated the Paekakariki seat to stand district-wide.  Guy Burns, who contested the seat in 2016, is the odds-on favourite this time.

We’ll profile a few newcomers we like over the next few weeks.

It has a nice setting just off Park Avenue. The parking lot has been the scene for some nocturnal drug dealing in the past, but is regularly patrolled by authorities and it occurs infrequently now. We like the colour of the car in the middle of this scene. 🙂

Dead beat spies

By Ralph McAllister

Joe Country by Mark Herron is the sixth in the series about inept washed-up spies, banished to Slough House, mostly to protect the reputation of MI5.

Jackson Lamb is their boss and shows no sign of refraining from his drinking, swearing, farting and dirty socks. The group of outsiders is as diverse as it is hilarious. They get into some horrific situations which terrify them and us.

Herron is one of England’s best writers. He doesn’t show any sign of running out of creative steam.

Start with Slow Horses and you will gallop through the other five in the series.

Promise!

Another top thriller from the master

And then, of course, there is Jo Nesbo. How does he do it? Knife is Harry Hole’s 12th account of his dark detective experiences. 

Be warned, this is a tale which will shock, grip and scare with its visceral, extremely violent and complex plot. There is a shocking early death combined with the release of one of Hole’s early incarcerated criminals. These factors push Hole to the absolute edge.

Reading Knife is not for the faint hearted but will offer rewards as you appreciate Scandinavian noir of the highest order.

Should be a Booker contender

Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan is one of those novels which should be on the Mann Booker Shortlist, but is not even on the long one.

We start with the Falklands War having been lost while artificial intelligence development has gone ahead with great speed. Thanks to people like Alan Turing, who has not been castrated, you can buy a synthetic robot easily but not cheaply.

It is difficult for people to tell the difference between the real and the machine. Charlie buys Adam, takes him home to his flat and partner Miranda. They set about programming Adam but soon conflicts arise and an unlikely threesome threatens.

McEwen has always been a master of introducing moral quandaries into ordinary lives.

Think Amsterdam, Saturday, The Children Act to name a few.

He is surely one of the greatest living English writers. His latest is as good as anything he has written.

Andolescent woes at their best

Finally, here is one of the funniest, most touching accounts of adolescent angst to hit our shores for a very long time.

Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls introduces us to 16 year old Charlie, not much of anything, he thinks. He wrestles with growing up as he is dragged into an am/dram open air production of Romeo and Juliet. He has no interest in theatre and only decides to stay because he is smitten by Fran, the Juliet, in this execrable production.

In scenes of hilarity and pathos, Nicholls brilliantly places us in 1997, where Charlie looks after his drunken father, perpetrates a scam in the local garage, loses his virginity, inevitably, and lives to reflect, twenty years later, on the summer madness of halcyon days.

Sweet Sorrow is another obvious contender for the Booker. Another glaring error?

Pah! A pox on both your houses, long list and short!

Yes, I know some prefer a plague o’ both your houses. I prefer pox!