Volume up for the tragedy of one minute away from dinner
#cuddleUnit6

I really do so love the twig houses

you do, really, really, want to see the twig houses

I will pre-order!

I’m smoking a CAMEL now
and I have a big hole in my
shoulder from washing away
a lot of dirt. Are you there?

there, are you? I am here
and the storm is not enough,
it should crash in and wet,
there should be maelstrom where

- Frank O'Hara, liszting

Sometimes the readings are even more starry than the poems

Come and get them!!!

wild, wild poetry!

Poetry Shelf Monday Poem: nation building by Janet Charman nation building there’s a shiny pinkcocktail onionsticking out of my footmy poor footand how i screamedwhen the consultantplaced her steroid jabinto my aching hipthen came these spiderlingsfrom my …

nzpoetryshelf.com/2026/04/13/p...

magnifique! How can I get a copy in French?

Sophie van Waardenberg on why her first books matters to her: "It’s a relief that it exists, because it means I never have to write my first book again."

Participating Cities — Global Book Crawl

Ok, so maybe you're not in the Metro Boston area and so can't do our Independent Bookstore Crawl, BUT there might be crawl near you! You can check here

Problems in part define the kind of work the writer chooses to do, and are not to be avoided but embraced. A writer, says Karl Kraus, is a man who can make a riddle out of an answer.

- Donald Barthelme

Helen Rickerby's 'My Bourgeois Apocalypse' is full of intelligent passion and beautiful wisdom. Traces of Anne Carson, Lyn Hejinian, and so many marks of glorious engagement with life and its texts. One of my 2026 reading highlights, already, confidently so.

The Daily Not-Rothko is the line in the fallen leaves made by the wind from passing cars

The Daily Rothno is a weir on the River Tiber, Rome

The Walls of Trastevere as an alternative Daily Rothno
#WallsOnWednesday

Whether you find asbestos exciting or frightening, its widespread use -- including in old buildings -- means we all need to learn how to breathe asbestos dust responsibly.

Ockhams Poetry category finalist Sophie van Waardenberg
talks about her shortlisted collection #theockhams

But… how will we pay for it? (🧵 with words).

This phrase is used to obfuscate, deflect and generally suppress progressive policy.
Why don’t dentists help the thousands of people suffering with tooth ache? Why is shit pouring into the harbour when it rains? Why are people sleeping in tents... [1/n]

Dani Yourukova's brilliant review of Helen Rickerby's My Bourgeois Apocalypse: "trying to uncover its secrets is a bit like cracking open a disco ball: enormously pleasing, unlikely to work, and not entirely the point" www.takahe.org.nz/my-bourgeois...

The painting is described as part of a series depicting women with magical powers, connected to vampires, witches, and other powerful creatures. Dora Abodi merges Gothic illustration with baroque futurism in these portraits. The set designs for her recent campaigns emerged organically from these paintings.

This artwork is part of the "red series" of illustrations by artist and creative director Dora Abodi for her brand, ABODI Transylvania.

Full disclosure: I stole this image from my discover feed from a user who had quote posting turned off but who had also not included a description of the image in her otherwise informative alt text. The image is a woman with her arms raised in a gothicky black dress with red tights and black shoes being lifted up by 4 bats carrying her by her black braids. The ground is Green with greenish rocks strewn about the background is orange-red. The original alt info was: The painting is described as part of a series depicting women with magical powers, connected to vampires, witches, and other powerful creatures. Dora Abodi merges Gothic illustration with baroque futurism in these portraits. The set designs for her recent campaigns emerged organically from these paintings. Original poster was an ivy with bluesky name of askylitocean

Broke: I am scared that bats will get in my hair.

Woke: I know that bats are highly sensitive flyers who actively avoid getting in people’s hair.

Bespoke: I want bats to lift up my hair in braids and fly me through the air. 🦇 🦇 🦇 🦇

Classic short story: Jewel's Darl, by Anne Kennedy A prophetic and all-time great NZ short story, published to vast controversy in 1983, about a trans sex worker in Wellington

Thanks to Anne Kennedy for writing "Jewel's Darl" and to Georgina Beyer for embodying Jewel in the TV rendition.
💎
newsroom.co.nz/2026/04/04/c...

For any writers who use the English language, the Barbellion Prize is open for entries. There is no fee for entry. Please share with others who might be interested.

barbellionprize.org

Emerging Pasifika Writer in Residence | Te Pūtahi Tuhi Auaha o Te Ao / International Institute of Modern Letters | Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington

Easter could also be a great time to apply for the Emerging Pasifika Writer in Residence with us: 3 months at the IIML with a mentor and a $15,000 stipend in the second half of 2026, deadline 30 May! (Picture shows 2025 EPWR Nafanua Purcell Kersel)

www.wgtn.ac.nz/modernletter...

Poetry Shelf audio poem: Maeve Hughes reads ‘I Buried the Blood and Planted a Tree’ Maeve Hughes reads I ‘Buried the Blood and Planted a Tree’ from Horse Power   Maeve Hughes lives in a tall house in Wellington. She has studied Fine Art…

Maeve, reading nzpoetryshelf.com/2020/01/30/p...

Poetry Shelf Writes Out To For With: a new series I have planted beetroot next to the peace seedsI have planted cauliflowers next to the protest potsI have planted oregano next to the hope seedlingsI have planted spinach in our home garden The Poe…

Here is my new series - need to work out how to get it back to normal size font for some reason it looks bigger like it is shouting!!! nzpoetryshelf.com/2026/04/03/p...

All the little fingertips and all the little toe-tips!

Global super-rich may have hidden $3.55tn from tax officials, says Oxfam Charity calls for a levy on the very richest and the closing of tax loopholes in its report on offshore wealth

'Oxfam estimates that perhaps $3.55tn is still shielded from tax – Estimates from previous research suggest 80% of this wealth is likely to be owned by the richest 0.1% of households... this tiny group hold untaxed assets equivalent to the total wealth of the poorest half of the global population.'