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Something to go to on National Poetry Day – hurrah!
Waiting for the bus tour…
Reposting this in memory of the Easter Rising, 100 years ago.
This is a poem of mine that was originally published in the wonderful Blackmail Press. I wrote it after a visit to Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin. Joseph Plunkett, one of the Irish rebels who took part in the 1916 rebellion (or “Easter Rising”), was executed hours after marrying his sweetheart, Grace Gifford.
Easter Rising (Joseph Plunkett, 1916), by Janis Freegard
they blindfolded him
our guide explains
for the benefit of the soldiers
(six standing, six kneeling)
so they wouldn’t see his eyes
when they shot him –
a piece of white paper
marking his heart
the day before, he’d married
in Kilmainham Gaol –
the proposal’s on display
You will marry me and no-one else
he’d written to his Grace
I’ve been a blind fool
Well, the books are out there and have already been spotted in Unity Books (both the Auckland and Wellington branches), as well as the Auckland University bookshop and Rona Gallery in Eastbourne.
It would be lovely to see you at the launch:
The Year of Falling (Mākaro Press) and
The Glass Rooster (AUP)
by Janis Freegard.
5:30- 7 pm, Tuesday 16 June 2015
Meow Cafe
9 Edward Street, Te Aro.
Wellington
Bar tab for first drinks.
I realise I’ve been very quiet on the blogging front recently, largely because I’ve been beavering away on a novel – more on that in the coming months. But another thing I did recently was to contribute a short story to a great initiative – ‘Sweet As: Contemporary Short Stories by New Zealanders’, an anthology to raise funds for the IHC. My late sister Joanne was intellectually disabled (she had Sanfilippo Syndrome) so I had a bit to do with the IHC while growing up and I’m pleased to be able to do something to support them.
There’s an impressive line-up of authors in the anthology, including Frances Cherry, Maggie Rainey-Smith, Wes Lee, Jo Randerson, Lawrence Patchett, Kate Mahony, Vivienne Joseph and many more. Hope to see some of you at the launch:
Date: Tuesday, 4th November
Time: 5.30 p.m.
Place: The Grand, 69 – 71 Courtenay Place (upstairs)
Thanks and congratulations to editors Wendy Moore and Blair Polly for making this happen.
This Sunday, 25th May I will be reading at Kapiti’s ‘Poets to the People‘ which I’m really looking forward to. It’s at Valhalla 31 Poplar Avenue, Raumati South, 4-6 pm and there is an open mic, so bring your poems! Food and drink are available.
This was the photo I meant to post a week ago, on the final day of the Ema Saiko Fellowship at New Pacific Studio. It’s the yurt-like nomadic structure that Lydia and Vlad were building at the studio while I was there. I’ve known it since it was bags of wool and pieces of dowelling and it was great to see it finally assembled. It was very warm inside and comfortably fitted 7 people.
Just went for a ride in this fine specimen of a 1926 Model T Ford. Thanks Ryan!
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