National Poetry Day poem: The Two Roses by Reginald Hunter

Today is National Poetry Day. PANZA would like to celebrate by posting a classic New Zealand poem by Reginald (Rex) Hunter (1889-1960).

Hunter left New Zealand as a young man in 1914. He travelled to Australia and through the Pacific and then worked as a journalist in America, where he met famous American writers like Ben Hecht and Carl Sandburg in Chicago and briefly married the South Carolina poet Gamel Woolsey. They separated, but never divorced. He also lived in Kansas City, San Francisco and New York and was a successful dramatist.

A biographical novel, Henry Whitaker, detailing his experiences with Carl Sandburg remains unpublished along with a prose work The Gull.

Hunter published his poetry in periodicals and several books of poetry appeared in his lifetime and posthumously: And Tomorrow Comes (1924, new edition, 1982), the autobiographical narrative The Saga of Sinclair (1927, new edition 1981) and Call Out of Darkness (1946). A well-received novel Porlock (1940) about a Greenwich Village character and a book of four one-act plays Stuff O’ Dreams (1919, new editions 2010 and 2011) were also published.

In 1949, Hunter returned to New Zealand to settle in Dunedin until his death. An obituary appeared in Arena 53 (1960), and a further biographical piece, Passages in the Life of Reginald Hunter by Kenneth Hopkins (the editor of the new editions of his poetry) was published in the UK in 1985. Harvey McQueen and Roger Robinson also co-wrote an entry on him for the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature (1998).

PANZA recognises Hunter as a significant and still largely unrecognised New Zealand poet. More of his poems will be in the next PANZA newsletter, Poetry Notes.

Reginald Hunter

THE TWO ROSES

And as the poet walked the wintry streets
In broken shoes, and lacking coins for bread,
A red rose flew its flame within his heart,
A white rose raised its petals in his head.

White rose of the unworldly held star-lifted
The vision of him whose outward steps trod mire.
Though thin his coat he did not feel the cold:
The undying rose of poesy was his fire.

Poem © Reginald Hunter, 1946

(From Call Out of Darkness, The Auburncrest Library, USA, 1946)

New Zealand poetry donations made to the Poetry Library, London

PANZA is pleased to announce that they have donated the following titles to the Poetry Library in London during July 2011.

A majority of the books donated were from the late Harvey McQueen’s collection given to PANZA, and others are from PANZA’s own collection where there were duplicate copies of some titles available. It’s great to be sending them to the prestige Poetry Library where they will be well looked after in the future.

PANZA hopes this donation will lead to further interest in New Zealand poetry.

In total 177 books were donated. The oldest donated title was Alexander and Currie’s selection of 19th century poetry, New Zealand Verse, 1906, published in London. Most of the books were recent volumes and published by leading NZ poetry publishers Steele Roberts, HeadworX, VUP, Sudden Valley Press, Hazard Press, Seraph Press and Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop.

Books by well-known New Zealand poets like Denis Glover, Kevin Ireland, Glenn Colquhoun, Gregory O’Brien, Jenny Bornholdt, Alistair Paterson, Vincent O’Sullivan, Louis Johnson, David Eggleton, Meg Campbell and Alistair Te Ariki Campbell were among the donations.

Here is a full list of the titles donated:

HARVEY MCQUEEN COLLECTION and POETRY ARCHIVE OF NZ AOTEAROA COLLECTION of NZ POETRY donations made to the POETRY LIBRARY July 2011

BOX 1

Harvey McQueen, The New Place anthology
– Oasis Motel
– Stoat Spring
– Pingandy: New and Selected Poems
– Against the Maelstrom
– Recessional (2 copies)
Tony Beyer, The Century
Basim Furat, No Boat May Allow Drowning to Vanish
Moshe Liba, The estuary of Komo
– Over the Waters
Harry Ricketts, Nothing to Declare: Selected Writings 1977-1997
– Coming Here
Michael O’Leary, Livin ina Aucklan
– Make Love and War – lending copy
Richard von Sturmer, Suchness
Paul Hardacre, The year nothing
Scott Kendrick, Rhyme before reason
Yilma Tafere Tasew, Thank you, thank you! Vol 1.
Iain Sharp, The Singing Harp
Stephen Oliver, Earthbound Mirrors
– Election year blues
– Harmonic
– Ballads, Satire and Salt
– Unmanned
Tim Jones, Boat People
Helen Rickerby, abstract internal furniture
Robin Fry, daymoon
Niel Wright, Only a bullet will stop me now (2 copies)
– Wellington Panorama (in 4 volumes set)
Andrew Fagan, Take the chocolates and run
– Overnight downpour
Leonard Lambert, Natural Anthem
– Skywire
Mark Pirie, London Notebook – lending copy
– Wellington Fool
– Slips: cricket poems
– Poems for Poets
– No Joke – lending copy
– Dumber – lending copy
– Bookmarks: anthology
– Poetrywall: anthology
– Poetrymath: anthology
– Voyagers: SF poetry anthology (with Tim Jones) – lending copy
– The NeXt Wave: anthology – lending copy
– TOM – lending copy
Alistair Campbell, The Dark Lord of Savaiki: sequence

BOX 2

Vivienne Plumb, Nefarious
– Scarab
Meg Campbell, Resistance – 2 copies
– Orpheus
Various, First Wgtn Intl Poetry Festival anthology
L E Scott, A day in history anthology
– Earth Colours: Selected Poems
– Speaking in Tongues
Bernard Gadd, Our bay of ensigns
– End of the snapshots: selected poems
– Oracle Bones
Terry Locke, Maketu
Alistair Paterson, Africa//Kabbo Mantis and the Porcupine’s daughter 
– Summer on the Côte d’Azur
Alistair Campbell, Kapiti: selected poems
Jenny Powell, Hats
– Four French Horns
Tony Chad, Self-titled
Laura Solomon, in vitro
Gregory O’Brien, afternoon of an evening train
– Winter I Was
– Location of the least person
Riemke Ensing, Talking Pictures: selected poems – lending copy
David Patterson, Up over Alpha
Jonathan Fisher, The sun is darker
Jenny Bornholdt, Summer
– These days
Alison Wong, Cup
Anna Smaill, The Violinist in Spring
Vincent O’Sullivan, Seeing you asked
David Mitchell, Pipe dreams in Ponsonby
Glenn Colquhoun, How we fell
Tim Upperton, A house on fire
Janet Charman, 2 deaths in 1 night
David Eggleton, Rhyming Planet
David Howard, Shebang: Collected Poems 1980-2000
Jack Ross, Chantal’s Book
Roma Potiki, Shaking the tree
Noel Ginn, Dweller on the threshold
Jan FitzGerald, Flying against the arrow
Julie Liebrich, Land below the waves
Kate Camp, Beauty Sleep
Kevin Ireland, Walking the land
James McNaughton, I want more sugar
Kerry Popplewell, Leaving the Tableland
Douglas Wright, Laughing Mirror

BOX 3

Mark Pirie, Shoot – lending copy
Louis Johnson, Fires and Patterns
– broadsheet No. 2 Louis Johnson issue
Barbara Strang, The Corrosion Zone – 2 copies
Alistair Paterson, Qu’appelle
– Caves in the Hills
– Summer on the Côte d’Azur – lending copy
Niel Wright, The Pop Artist’s Garland: Selected Poems 1952-2009 – lending copy
Tim Jones, All Blacks’ Kitchen Gardens
Michael O’Leary, Toku Tinihanga: Selected Poems 1982-2002 – lending copy
L E Scott, Earth Colours: Selected Poems – lending copy
Tony Beyer, Dream Boat: Selected Poems – lending copy
Stu Bagby, as it was in the beginning
Various, Big Sky: A Collection of Canterbury Poems
Pat White, Drought and other intimacies
– Cut across the grain
Laura Solomon, in vitro – lending copy
Charles Doyle, Messages for Herod
Alan Loney, Missing Parts
Bub Bridger, Up here on the hill
– Wild Daisies: Best of Bub Bridger
Elizabeth Smither, You’re very seductive William Carlos Williams
Tony Beyer, The Singing Ground
Martha Morseth, staying inside the lines
Hugh Lauder, Over the white wall
Simon Williamson, 25 cars
Gordon Challis, Building
Harvey McQueen, Goya Rules
Vivienne Plumb, Salamanca
Peter Olds, Music Therapy
Graham Billing, Changing Countries
Rosalie Carey, Winterless North
Laura Ranger, Laura’s Poems
Hubert Witheford, A Native, Perhaps Beautiful
– The Falcon Mask
Gary McCormick, Zephyr
Helen Jacobs, This cording, this artery
Charles Doyle, Recent Poetry in NZ anthology
Vincent O’Sullivan, Revenants
Denis Glover, Wellington Harbour
– Sharp edge up: verses and satires
James Bertram, New Zealand Love Poems anthology
Various, New Zealand Verse 1906 anthology
Gloria Rawlinson, The Perfume Vendor
Michael N. Rhodes, Lines written in a mental hospital
Amelia Herrero-Kidman, Pages for the stage
Various, Tiger Words: Paekakariki Poets at Pukapuka
John Ellis, Loud Quiet Song

BOX 4

John O’Connor, Cornelius & Co.: Collected Working Class Verse (2 copies)
– Parts of the moon: selected haiku and senryu 1988-2007
– Working Voices (with Eric Mould)
Simon Williamson, 25 cars – lending copy
Helen Rickerby, My Iron Spine (2 copies)
Jenny Powell,Viet Nam
– Four French Horns – lending copy
– Locating the Madonna (with Anna Jackson) (2 copies)
Bernard Gadd, Pokeno Opposes the Kaiser
– Debating Stones
Vivienne Plumb, Crumple (2 copies)
– Scarab – lending copy
– Nefarious – lending copy
Tim Jones, All Blacks’ Kitchen Gardens – lending copy
– Boat People – lending copy
Basim Furat, No Boat May Allow Drowning to Vanish – lending copy
– Here and There – lending copy
Tony Beyer, The Singing Ground – lending copy
Jill Chan, These Hands are Not Ours
Vana Manasiadis, Ithaca Island Bay Leaves (2 copies)
Scott Kendrick, Cold Comfort Cold Concrete (2 copies)
– Rhyme before reason – lending copy
Harry Ricketts, Your Secret Life – lending copy
Mark Pirie, Reading the Will – lending copy
– Bottle of Armour: Early Poems 1992-1993
– Mahones anthology (with Bill Dacker, Michael O’Leary and Iain Sharp)
– JAAM 21: Greatest Hits: An anthology of writing 1984-2004 (with Michael O’Leary) – lending copy

Winter catalogue update/PANZA reaches 5,000 titles

The Poetry Archive of NZ Aotearoa (PANZA) recently reached 5,000 titles.

Thanks to all those who have donated to the Archive over the past year. The Poetry Archive of New Zealand catalogue has now been significantly updated to reflect many new acquisitions in June and July.

The Archive began in February 2010 with around 3,000 titles and has grown substantially in the past year. PANZA would particularly like to thank Auckland poet, editor and novelist Alistair Paterson, Wellington poet/publisher Mark Pirie, Wellington publisher Roger Steele and the late New Zealand anthologist, poet and memoirist Harvey McQueen for their sizeable contributions to the fast-growing collection.