Te Whāriki
Reading Ten New Poets from Aotearoa
Robert Sullivan editor Dougal McNeill editor Anna Jackson editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Auckland University Press
Published:9th Oct '25
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
In journals and pubs, on TikTok and the bestseller lists, the current generation of New Zealand poets is finding new voices, new platforms and new readers. It is a poetry of now: of emojis and hashtags, of bodies and flesh, of identity and aspiration.
How to take the measure of this new rush of poetic energy, invention and disruption? What new aesthetics emerge alongside these new voices? How might old forms and old questions take the pulse of the new? Te Whāriki provides a first reading of this exciting moment by weaving together the work of ten contemporary poets from Aotearoa with new critical writing that makes sense of these poets and their poems.
Pulling these strands together in one volume, Te Whāriki is as dynamic, various and engaging as New Zealand poetry is today.
Featuring poets Sam Duckor-Jones, Tayi Tibble, Claudia Jardine, essa may ranapiri, Rebecca Hawkes, Chris Tse, Oscar Upperton, Joanna Cho, Ruby Solly and Nafanua Purcell Kersel, with new critical writing by Amy Marguerite, Tru Paraha, Anna Jackson, Robert Sullivan, Mark Masterson, Stephanie Burt, Dani Yourukova, Dougal McNeill, Sophie van Waardenberg, Brigid Quirke, Robin Peters and David Eggleton.
‘Te Whāriki is an inspired and inspiring set of weavings that lead us through the poetry terrain and poetic pulse of now. By opening up the writing of ten poets, vital connections are forged, communities nourished, intimate threads are woven . . . from the personal to the intellectual to the experimental. This invigorating book makes my poetry heart sing.’ — Paula Green
‘I have read this book with genuine pleasure. There’s a sense of freshness to the material and it’s written in an attractively accessible way. It will be enjoyed by a wide range of readers.’ — Erin Mercer, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
‘The names listed in this book’s contents page are themselves arguments for why this book should be published. Taken together these poets represent a fair snapshot of the poetry being written presently in Aotearoa. The book’s design – a whāriki – is ideal: it acknowledges a diverse spectrum of (mostly) young writers whose voices constellate a range of traditions and influences, present and past, and it invites readers to make connections between poems and poets for themselves.’ — Nicholas Wright, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha – University of Canterbury
ISBN: 9781776711314
Dimensions: 230mm x 165mm x 13mm
Weight: unknown
204 pages