AUP New Poets 7

Book excerpt: AUP New Poets 7 is a deep dive into the rich diversity of New Zealand poetry today.Relaunched under the editorship of Anna Jackson in 2019, AUP New Poets 7 includes substantial selections from the poetry of Rhys Feeney, Ria Masae and Claudia Jardine. From Apia to Parnell, Ancient Rome to dreams of Venus, Aro Park to the furthest reaches of the internet, the poems of Rhys Feeney, Ria Masae and Claudia Jardine take us places &– including the darkest reaches of emotional geographies lit up in startling new ways. Each poet writes with a rich vocabulary and distinct sense of rhythm, as they bring us mutilated barbie dolls, indestructible pumpkins, fat-soluble poisons, jelly-fish, seagulls, eight-tala jugs of cocktails, loom weights, unseasonable journeys, deep-fried bananas, pet rabbits, destructive chickens, scars and tattoos, parataxis and ellipses, instructions on how to make toast, and more, so much more.