I covered several reviews of my poetry collection All Blacks’ Kitchen Gardens in a recent post. Another review has since appeared, in Issue 63 of the Christchurch-based literary journal Takahe. In his review, James Norcliffe looks in detail at the three sections of the book – Inside, Outside and Farside – and concludes that:
All Blacks’ Kitchen Gardens is a most enjoyable read, full of intelligent poems intelligently arranged so that they set up echoes and conversations. Although at times there is the slight clunk of contrivance, there is more than enough here to surprise and satisfy.
Slight clunks apart, I’m pretty satisfied with this as a summary.
There’s a lot to like about Takahe. It’s a handsomely-produced magazine, featuring striking, full-colour front and back covers with artwork by Phil Price; it contains an extensive reviews section, the centrepiece of which is a long review of the latest collection by Stephen Oliver, Harmonic; and it is full of high-quality fiction and poetry.
I have a couple of poems in this issue, and the editors kindly sent me two contributors’ copies. I’m offering one of those copies free to a good home. If you’d like a copy of Takahe 63, please email me at timjones (at) actrix.co.nz with your postal address. I’ll send a copy to the first person who responds, and post a note here when I’ve done that. UPDATE: We have a winner – thanks for getting in touch, Rod Scown!
