Since it contains no kitchens, no All Blacks, and only occasional gardens, why did I call my second poetry collection All Blacks’ Kitchen Gardens?
When I submitted the manuscript, my second poetry collection after Boat People, to publisher HeadworX I gave it the rather boring title Taking Sides. When it didn’t get a grant from Creative New Zealand, I thought to myself “I have to do better than this!” and decided to name it after one of my poems, “What to Call Your Book”:
All Blacks’ Kitchen Gardens
or With Scott to Shackleton
or Man Management with Mitchor Blokes in Traction
or Make Mine a Mansfield
or Best Friends Go Bungy Mador Something Snappy
or Txt Me a Title
or Naming Rights Sponsor Required.
Some of these titles won’t make much sense to non-NZers, and as for “Man Management with Mitch”, readers should be reminded that I wrote the poem just after the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
Confused? Check out some of the sample poems from ABKG to the left, and then you’ll be either less confused or more confused.
