The rest of the journal is an altogether different joy. However I do take issue that a short intro and five VUP books can respond to her opening question: ‘How to characterise a national poetry?’ Why would you even try! It is a personal take on five excellent books. Her selection certainly does not reflect the contours of that year, and we can all stand on the sidelines and shout (or sing) about the books we loved, but I have no issue with reviews reflecting individual taste. Yes the five books Daisy Fried reviewed – from the fifteen 2017 publications she was sent – were all Victoria University Press. I cannot name a NZ journal that has achieved such movement. This matters if we want to move beyond the legacy of white male predomination, urban bias and privileged poetry models. The selected poets cross all manner of borders: age, geographical location, style, university affiliation, gender, ethnicity.
The editors – Stephanie Burt (USA), Paul Millar (NZ) and Chris Price (NZ) – have worked hard to present a distinctive and diverse overview of our current poetry. This is not the first time an overseas journal has showcased New Zealand poetry, but it is perhaps the example I am most excited by. Perhaps Joan Fleming and Amy Brown could guest edit a local journal with an Australian focus? But then again our journals are often annual and offer vital but scant opportunities for local poets. I am acutely aware of my impoverished relations with contemporary Australian poetry. On the other hand, we are no longer dependent upon ocean voyages and the constraints of distance, but to what degree does our poetry travel (compared say with fiction)? Or our poetry conversations extend beyond our lapping tidelines. Yes I have studied American and British poetry but I am more aware of the luminous stars in these poetry constellations than the grassroot outings. The degree of familiarity with poetry from elsewhere is utterly paltry compared with the degree of familiarity I have with local writing. International poetry traffic is so often dependent upon fortuitous connections.
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