Kirjahaku

Arc International PoetsWith eleven collections of poetry to her name (not to mention short stories and novels), and until earlier in 2003 Te Mata New Zealand poet laureate, Elizabeth Smither writes with such skill and assurance, is so comfortable in her own voice, that it is easy to take her gifts for granted. But as this, her first UK publications demonstrates, no other contemporary New Zealand poet could produce such harmonious and engaging work.

A repository for a personal collection of quotations, scraps, pensees, and poems, this compilation offers keen insight into the influences and inspirations of a writer, namely Elizabeth Smither. There are no platitudes or sententious maxims here; instead, these sometimes pensive sometimes screamingly funny quotations range from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy to Elizabeth Bennet, from Charles Simic to Montaigne, and from Monty Python to Henry James. Witty and intriguing, this record also demonstrates the results of the creative process by including Smither's own work.

Whimsical and tender, this latest collection demonstrates Smither’s talent for illuminating the poetry in the everyday – an out-of-season daffodil, a chipped Limoges plate. She is a master of the unfolding poem, in lines that take you from a single image to the cusp of something larger. At times meditative, at times playful, even slightly subversive, this collection impresses with a surety of word, a deft touch and a polished harmony.

The grass with little daisies in it springs as if springs are under my feet. I poke the ferrule of my umbrella in it, as if I need a prop for steadiness and yet it is a pretence: waterlogged or not something like joy is running underneath. In her twentieth poetry collection, Elizabeth Smither brings together a new ensemble of surprising images and charismatic companions. A herd of cows gathers around a radio to listen wide-eyed to a Mozart concerto. A frog leads us unhurriedly down the garden path. Jane Austen’s Emma makes an appearance. A cat critiques Wittgenstein. And a flamboyant fabric rose rescues a job interview. Each poem in The Interview Rose is a bridge between the private self and the physical world, travelling the long route through art, religion, philosophy, and the pleasures of language.