Poetry (116)

Respirator : Poetry by David Eggleton

ISBN: 9781990048500

Author: David Eggleton    Publisher: Otago University Press

‘The scope and invention of these poems is simply dazzling.’ – Anne Kennedy Respirator is a sumptuous celebration of David Eggleton’s tenure as the nati...


‘The scope and invention of these poems is simply dazzling.’ – Anne Kennedy Respirator is a sumptuous celebration of David Eggleton’s tenure as the nation’s poet-at-large during his time as Aotearoa NZ Poet Laureate (2019–22). In this collection of probing, kaleidoscopic and richly sensuous poems, Eggleton explores how the social changes and upheavals of the past four extraordinary years manifested in Aotearoa New Zealand, from the impact of living through a pandemic to ecological concerns, technological changes, and shifting viewpoints about identity and global consumerism. Respirator stands as a powerful artistic record of an unprecedented historical moment. "Australia’s heat map in January glowed every which way, red, purple, black, and our skies were made yellow by trans-Tasman smoke, while scarcely less fraught were dog days of February, as arrivals drifted through airport duty-free, in a haze of competing perfume spritzes, and reports came of a strange virus out of Wuhan, pale horse and pale rider." — ‘Rāhui: Lockdown Journal'


Bind: hardback


Pages: 192


Dimensions: 170 x 220 mm


Publication Date: 20-03-2023


Tag: Poetry
$35.00
Christmas Presents: Ten Poems to Give and Receive

ISBN: 9781907598951

Author: Various    Publisher: Candlestick Press

It’s better to give than to receive, as the saying goes. But then, of course, there is sharing which contains a bit of both. This mini-anthology of specially-...


It’s better to give than to receive, as the saying goes. But then, of course, there is sharing which contains a bit of both. This mini-anthology of specially-commissioned poems by leading poets captures the rich rewards of that exchange – whether the memory of time spent with a loved one, the singing of carols or the magic of getting ready for Christmas morning with a young child: “We fill your pillow case with glittered jewels and illuminated texts. In the morning you wake to find a room covered with frosted leaves, berries and fairy lights.” from ‘Midwinter Gods’ by Jessica Mookherjee. There’s humour in an imagined baby shower for the new-born Christ-child, complete with a carpentry set and a bottle of pink fizz from someone who thought it was going to be a girl. Elsewhere we encounter an ailing family cat who recovers just in time to run rings around the Christmas tree. This selection will delight and entertain – while also reminding us of the things that really count. Poems by Andre Bagoo, Suzannah V Evans, Mark Fiddes, John Greening, Helen Ivory, John McCullough, Jessica Mookherjee, Pey Oh, Kelley Swain and Ben Wilkinson.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 20


Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm


Publication Date: 01-09-2020


$15.99
Ten Poems About Baking

ISBN: 9781907598807

Authors: Various, Helena Nelson    Publisher: Candlestick Press

These ten poems celebrate all that’s wonderful about baking – the time-honoured recipes, the patient kneading and stirring of ingredients, the sticky finger...


These ten poems celebrate all that’s wonderful about baking – the time-honoured recipes, the patient kneading and stirring of ingredients, the sticky fingers in the mixing bowl. Baking, the poems seem to say again and again, is a profoundly human art: a homemade summer pudding can create “a stillness lost in taste” at a dinner party with friends, while an old spice jar can transport us swiftly back to childhood: “I opened one: faint kitchen scents (a trace of fruit breads, Welsh cakes, and the kitchen warm and welcoming from school) took shadow form: allspice and nutmeg, cinnamon and mace…” from ‘Spice Jars’ by DA Prince. These are poems for anyone who loves to bake, as much as for those who simply appreciate the glory of a well-made Victoria Sponge. Helena Nelson is a poet and publisher – and a dab hand at choux pastry. Poems by Harry Clifton, CJ Dennis, Cathy Grindrod, Grevel Lindop, Gill McEvoy, Graham Mort, Helena Nelson, Kenn Nesbitt and DA Prince.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 20


Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm


Publication Date: 01-01-2020


$15.99
Ten Poems About Bicycles

ISBN: 9781907598661

Author: Various    Publisher: Candlestick Press

This second edition of our much-loved mini-anthology of bicycle poems is a real treat. Invigorated by some delightful new poems, the selection takes us along th...


This second edition of our much-loved mini-anthology of bicycle poems is a real treat. Invigorated by some delightful new poems, the selection takes us along the highways and byways of cycling lore, from a freewheeling nun relishing the exhilaration of being on a bike on a hot summer’s day to the young man cycling in his brand new soldier’s uniform at the start of World War One. In a captivating poem about young love, a girl is waiting to meet a boy whose bicycle seems to encapsulate his glamour: “He rides A bicycle that glitters like The wind.” from ‘Girl, Boy, Flower, Bicycle’ by MK Joseph. Poignant, humorous and unexpected by turn, these poems will delight anyone who loves cycling – as well as those who just like to remember those carefree days when falling off didn’t seem to matter. Poems by Connie Bensley, James Roderick Burns, Jonathan Davidson, Michael Donaghy, Jonathan Edwards, Jacqueline Gabbitas, MK Joseph, Derek Mahon, Paul McLoughlin, Helena Nelson.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 20


Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm


Publication Date: 01-12-2009


$15.99
Ten Poems About Cricket

ISBN: 9781907598395

Authors: Various, John Lucas    Publisher: Candlestick Press

Over the years, a lot of people (mostly men, let it be said) have asked for poems about cricket. So it is with great pleasure, and a bit of a drum-roll, that we...


Over the years, a lot of people (mostly men, let it be said) have asked for poems about cricket. So it is with great pleasure, and a bit of a drum-roll, that we present Ten Poems about Cricket selected and introduced by John Lucas, who knows a thing or two about both. In his Introduction, John Lucas writes: “Ten poems about cricket? Given the number of good poets who have written about the game, to choose a mere ten is mission impossible.” Although it may indeed be “mission impossible”, he has nonetheless chosen ten superb poems to whet the appetite, including one that he describes as “quite possibly the best poem about cricket ever written”. The poems capture the game and its history, the excitement of the moment and the hinterland of reminiscence, eulogy and elegy. “…the bowler six times looped a slow ball like a deeply considered question, and six times the batsman in his plum cap leaned very attentively and returned an answer.” from ‘Near Greenford, 1951’ by Brian Jones. Poems by John Arlott, Adrian Buckner, Joan Downar, Philip Hodgins, Brian Jones, John Lucas, Matt Merritt, Hubert Moore, Norman Nicholson and Kit Wright.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 24


Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm


Publication Date: 01-06-2016


$15.99
Ten Poems About Gardens

ISBN: 9781907598074

Authors: Various, Monty Don    Publisher: Candlestick Press

Ten Poems about Gardens is for gardeners and visitors to gardens, the green-fingered and the willing admirer who nonetheless doesn’t know their trowel from th...


Ten Poems about Gardens is for gardeners and visitors to gardens, the green-fingered and the willing admirer who nonetheless doesn’t know their trowel from their hoe; the allotment-holder and the flower-grower. Like the gardens they describe, the poems range between formality and informality, elegance and sweet-scented shades of mystery. “Good gardening …needs poetry to capture, measure and catalogue. …That is what this little volume does perfectly. It is a garden catalogue and a manual spelling out the really important horticultural skills. …These are all fine poems, all perfectly practical celebrations of why and how to garden. Read them with soil under your nails and to cultivate all that grows within. Read them and go out and garden the better for it.” Monty Don, Introduction to Ten Poems about Gardens. Untitled In the name of the bee And of the butterfly And of the breeze Amen. by Emily Dickinson. Poems by Vikram Seth, Ann Drysdale, Henry Constable, Richard Church, Robert Louis Stevenson, Maura Dooley, Louise Glück, Robin Robertson, Barbara Daniels and Katherine Mansfield.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 20


Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm


Publication Date: 01-06-2011


$15.99
Ten Poems About Knitting

ISBN: 9781907598296

Author: Various    Publisher: Candlestick Press

A pamphlet of ten irresistible poems about the joys of knitting – plain, purl and cable stitches morph into poems in which needles flash like rapiers, wool is...


A pamphlet of ten irresistible poems about the joys of knitting – plain, purl and cable stitches morph into poems in which needles flash like rapiers, wool is wound into balls and the door of the local wool shop opens onto hushed knitters, heads bowed over patterns, flicking through the pages in search of the perfect cardigan… Poems by Emily Dickinson, Jane Duran, Sue Dymoke, Roy Fisher, Christopher James, Jackie Kay, Gwyneth Lewis, Liz Lochhead, Allison McVety, Jessie Pope and Lydia Towsey.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 24


Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm


Publication Date: 01-01-2015


$15.99
Ten Poems About Running

ISBN: 9781913627164

Authors: Various, Stephen Keeler    Publisher: Candlestick Press

Nowadays, running is a serious business and we’re all busy recording our PBs on complicated watches. These poems remind us that there’s still plenty of fun ...


Nowadays, running is a serious business and we’re all busy recording our PBs on complicated watches. These poems remind us that there’s still plenty of fun to be had – whether navigating a forest trail before breakfast or lying in bed coming up with reasons not to go out at all. There’s the familiar sight of a runner skirting shoppers in a busy street, leaving behind a trail of bemusement: “Was that Paul? Was that Sue? unsure whether the flickering figures half seen from behind might have been the friends they knew, or thought they knew.” from ‘Runners in Town’ by Jenny King. The abiding spirit of the selection is that running remains the most democratic of sports – and that the main thing really is the taking part, be it in a 5K or a marathon or simply a trot around a local forest. Poems by Helen Allison, Carole Bromley, Wanda Coleman, Mark Granier, Stephen Keeler, Jenny King, Glyn Maxwell, Eugene Ethelbert Miller, Mandy Sutter and David Wagoner.


Bind: paperback


Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm


Publication Date: 01-08-2022


$15.99
Ten Poems About Sheds

ISBN: 9781907598623

Authors: Various, John Greening    Publisher: Candlestick Press

Sheds have come a long way since the man-cave cliché. These days, a shed is a far more democratic place – somewhere that symbolises the privacy and space tha...


Sheds have come a long way since the man-cave cliché. These days, a shed is a far more democratic place – somewhere that symbolises the privacy and space that we all need. John Greening’s wonderfully varied selection of poems explores sheds from every imaginable angle. The poems take us to a child’s hiding place, a treasury of exotic implements and rich aromas and a retreat in which to remember the past. Derek Mahon’s fêted poem ‘A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford’ creates a mysterious inner world which seems to exist outside time. A shed may just be a place to keep the lawnmower, or it may be somewhere to escape to in order to write or paint. Sometimes it’s a haven in which to daydream when the house is full of noise and bustle. Elsewhere it’s: “A sea-side arbour, a garden shanty, knocked together out of driftwood and furnished with a beat-up sofa…” from ‘Arbour’ by Kathleen Jamie. This enchanting selection leads the reader quietly into private worlds and makes the perfect gift for every shed-lover. Poems by Fleur Adcock, Alison Brackenbury, John Greening, Stuart Henson, Kathleen Jamie, Derek Mahon, John McAuliffe, MR Peacocke, Carol Rumens, Vernon Scannell.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 24


Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm


Publication Date: 01-03-2018


$15.99
Ten Poems About Swimming

ISBN: 9781913627065

Authors: Various, Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch    Publisher: Candlestick Press

There’s something at once elemental and child-like about moving through water – whether we paddle like a dog or can manage an elegant crawl. These delightf...


There’s something at once elemental and child-like about moving through water – whether we paddle like a dog or can manage an elegant crawl. These delightful poems explore the many joys of swimming in pools, rivers and oceans. We travel all the way from a child learning to swim at home on a piano stool to a swimmer in a public baths which become suddenly splendid: “the pool spread like a sunken ballroom, marbled with the winter sun and here, the deep end’s edge where I hang breathless,” from ‘What I Think About When I’m Swimming’ by Hannah Lowe. Swimming is a pleasure and a privilege, and these poems remind us that when we take to the water it is not just our bodies that are changed. Poems by Vievee Francis, Paul Henry, Ranjit Hoskote, Hannah Lowe, Nicholas Murray, Katrina Naomi, Jay Parini, Katherine Pierpoint, Stevie Smith and Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 20


Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm


Publication Date: 01-06-2023


$15.99
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