I first met Wellington poet Kerry Popplewell when we both did the Writing the Landscape creative writing course at Victoria University in 2003, and along with other members of that course we met from time to time to discuss our writing and what was going on in our lives. I admired Kerry’s poetry, her zest for tramping, her wisdom, and her great attitude to life. I’m very pleased I met her, and very sad to hear of her death.
It was a dark and stormy night – no, really, it was! – when my new poetry collection Dracula in the Colonies, together with Mandy Hager’s new “Chasing Ghosts” mystery Revenge and Rabbit Holes, were launched at Unity Books Wellington earlier this month.
Photo credit: James Fraser
Happily, that didn’t prevent a good crowd gathering to attend the launch, enjoy the lovely food put on by Unity Books, listen to the speeches, and buy some books.
Colin Marshall of the Whitireia Publishing Programme, who helped to put together the launch, also doubled as videographer – here are his videos of publisher Mary McCallum, my “launcher”, poet Harvey Molloy who said some lovely things about my work and my writing career, and myself speaking at the launch.
My new poetry collection Dracula in the Colonies is launching at Unity Books Wellington on Wednesday 1 October from 6-7.30pm. It’s a double book launch: my Dracula in the Colonies and Mandy Hager’s new novel Revenge and Rabbit Holes.
All are welcome – no need to RSVP. And if you invite your friend, friends, partner, partners, or large and lavishly remunerated workplace* along, even better!
*Possibly fictional.
Dracula in the Colonies has received a couple of very nice endorsements from poets whose work I admire:
Janis Freegard:“Tim Jones’ powerful new collection takes us from Grimsby to Antarctica, traversing family life, migration, politics, climate change and loss. This is honest, tender, funny and intelligent writing from a story-teller poet.”
Erik Kennedy: “Eminently readable but never comfortable … Dracula in the Colonies is full of characters you’ll love to hate from a poet whose work we know to love.”
Thank you, Erik and Janis!
All the details
The launch will be at Unity Books, 57 Willis St, Wellington, from 6-7.30pm on Wednesday 1 October 2025. There will be drinks, nibbles, and books for sale and signing.
You and your friends are warmly invited to a double book launch at Unity Books on Wednesday 1 October: my new poetry collection Dracula in the Colonies and Mandy Hager’s new novel Revenge and Rabbit Holes.
All are welcome – no need to RSVP!
The launch will be at Unity Books, 57 Willis St, Wellington, from 6-7.30pm on Wednesday 1 October 2025. There will be drinks, nibbles, and books for sale and signing.
Halfway to Everywhere is Vivienne Ullrich’s second poetry collection, and I’m impressed. The poems in Halfway to Everywhere show a lot of formal ability as a poet, and as the collection goes on, that formal elegance was increasingly matched with subject matter that engaged me emotionally.
Many of these poems take as their subject matter art, historical figures and fairy tales. Mary Queen of Scots, Little Red Riding Hood, Scheherazade, Jack of “Jack and the Beanstalk” fame and the artist Max Gimblett all put in an appearance, as the poet invites us to see the world from their points of view.
“Mary Queen of Scots” (p. 24) is a good example of these poems. It begins:
I die tomorrow. It is a simple thing and yet it clamps my belly. I pray for a clean stroke and dignity.
From “Rutu” (p. 18), a poem inspired by Rita Angus’ painting of the same name:
… how is it we gift this month with myths of rebirth, when an eye towards our cross of stars would signal time for harvest, time for tuning in to self.
I was very impressed by the quality of both the poetry, and the thought that had gone into the poetry, in Halfway to Everywhere. I did find that – perhaps because of the number of poems about artworks and historical figures – it took about half the collection before I started to engage with the poems emotionally – in other words, to connect with them as well as be impressed by them. But as I continued reading, I found poems that spoke to me more directly, like “Footprint” (p. 62):
I hear you. No doubt it is different in my skin. I am my peculiar set of molecules after all, and I have the benefit of context and the words I left out.
This skill in addressing multiply points of view comes to fruition on my favourite poem in the collection, “Little Red Riding Hood” (p. 48), a retelling in which the dramatis personae all get a turn as protagonist: the wolf, the huntsman, the grandmother, and the girl herself. This poem combines formal ability and sly wit in a way that works extremely well. An excerpt won’t do it justice – check out the whole poem!
Vivienne Ullrich is a talented, clever, thoughtful poet, and as I read through this collection, I found her poems and her poetry sneaking up on me. Halfway to Everywhere is a good place to be.
I’m very happy to have been asked to join a distinguished lineup of writers in this fundraising event, which is being held at the Hataitai Centre (the former Hataitai Bowling Club). The lineup is:
Jenny Bornholdt Gregory O’Brien Dame Fiona Kidman Tim Jones Sarah Scott
I’ll be reading poetry, including some climate poetry from New Sea Land and some new poems.
Tickets are adults $20, students and seniors $15. A mezze platter is available for $20.
From the event website:
“Celebrate local writers of Hataitai with live music and a relaxed chat, followed by readings by local poets Jenny Bornholdt, Gregory O’Brien, Dame Fiona Kidman, Tim Jones and Sarah Scott.
Profits raised will go towards sustaining a budding community programme of local creative art and literary events and workshops right here in Hataitai.
Mezze platters with a selection of delicious pairings for your pair with your BYO drink of choice. Vegan options are available.”
Koe: An Aotearoa ecopoetry anthology launches on 22 August – you’re invited to the launch!
I’m delighted that my poem “All That Summer”, first published in my collection New Sea Land (2016), has been selected for this new anthology of environmental poetry from Aotearoa / New Zealand, edited by Janet Newman and Robert Sullivan. I’ll be one of the poets reading at the Wellington launch, which is at Meow, 9 Edward Street, Wellington from 6pm on Thursday, 22nd August – the same day the anthology becomes available in bookstores.
Koeinvites readers to explore human connections with nature through a selection of over 100 poems composed in Aotearoa New Zealand from pre-European times to the present day. Including a substantial introduction and editors’ notes, Koe is the first anthology to provide a comprehensive overview of ecopoetic traditions in Aotearoa and to locate these traditions as part of the global ecopoetry scene.
In Koe, editors Janet Newman and Robert Sullivan reveal the genesis, development and heritage of a unique Aotearoa New Zealand ecopoetry derived from both traditional Māori poetry and the English poetry canon. Organised chronologically into three sections—representing the early years (poets born in or before the nineteenth century), the middle years of the twentieth century, and the twenty-first-century ‘now’—each segment presents a diverse array of voices. Across all these time frames, speaking from the conditions of their era, the poets delve into themes of humility, reverence and interconnectedness with the nonhuman world. They challenge traditional Eurocentric perspectives, highlight the significance of indigenous narratives, and wrestle with the impacts of European colonisation.
With more than 100 poems of celebration, elegy, apprehension, hope and activism, Koe gives us the history that holds our future.
New Poems Published in a fine line and Tarot
I’ve recently had new poems published in a fine line and Tarot – thanks very much to respective editors Gail Ingram and Kit Willett for selecting these poems for publication!
Where To From Here webinar for Our Climate Declaration
In July, I spoke to an Our Climate Declaration webinar about the nexus between climate writing and climate activism, referring both to my novel Emergency Weather and to the current political moment.. Thanks to Our Climate Declaration for the opportunity – check out the webinar below!
A Change In the Weather: The Climate Crisis In Poetry And Fiction
Tim Jones, Kay McKenzie Cooke, Michelle Elvy, Tunmise Adebowale, Mikaela Nyman, Jenny Powell – thanks to Kay for the photo!
I spent a couple of weeks in the south of the South Island in late June and early July, travelling with family and visiting friends. Along the way, I took part in a writing event in Dunedin, A Change In the Weather: The Climate Crisis In Poetry And Fiction on Thursday 4 July, which Michelle Elvy, Kay Mckenzie Cooke and I organised. The event was held in the Dunningham Suite at Dunedin Public Library – thanks very much to Ali and her team for setting the venue up & being such good hosts!
and everyone read wonderful pieces! Then, afterwards, we had a really good discussion, covering both climate & environmental writing and climate activism, with the audience. Books got sold, drinks were drunk, nibbles nibbled (thanks to Kay and Robert for getting the drinks and nibbles) – it was a very positive event and I enjoyed it a lot. I lived in Dunedin from 1976 to 1993, and I felt very welcomed by the Dunedin literary community at this event.
My novel Emergency Weather has got off to a great start and there is more: (“Talking Up a Storm: The Making of Emergency Weather” this coming Wednesday, 12.30-1.30, Unity Books Wellington), but it’s time to talk about two books I’ve been reading and very much enjoying.
The World I Found is a really good read. It’s a Young Adult novel seen through the eyes of 15-year-old Quinn, who is reluctantly dragged off to Campbell Island by her Mum, who is heading there as part of a scientific expedition. While Quinn is on the island, a worldwide pandemic breaks out, which means life is very different when she returns to Aotearoa and has to make her own choices in a radically changed world while attempting to find those of her family and friends who’ve survived, and deal with her attraction to a boy who can’t be relied on.
Latika Vasil does a great job of showing the world through Quinn’s eyes. She’s brave, resourceful, but also impetuous and at times beset by doubt. She’s a very realistic protagonist – I enjoyed seeing the world through her eyes. If you enjoy YA fiction as so many of us do, or if you’re a high school teacher looking for a well-written book that touches on important issues and tells a strong story through the eyes of a relatable protagonist, The World I Found is for you.
Poetry: Famdamily – Meowing Part 2, a poetryanthology by the Meow Gurrrls
I went to the launch of this new anthology from The Meow Gurrrls, six Wellington-region poets whose work I’ve previously read, admired and sometimes reviewed: Janis Freegard, Kirsten Le Harivel, Mary Jane Duffy, Mary Macpherson, Abra Sandi King and Sudha Rao.
The launch was lots of fun, and so is this anthology of poems on the general theme of family.
With illustrations by Mary-Jane Duffy and photos of the six poets as children, this little book is an attractive package, but the real star is the poetry. I like all the poems, but some particular favourites include “Bikinis plural” by Mary-Jane Duffy, “Our need” by Mary Macpherson, “Fire Mom” by Abra Sandi King, “Les Frères” by Janis Freegard, “Letter to Arun” by Sudha Rao and “After-school mothers” by Kirsten Le Harivel.
Famdamily reminds me quite a bit of Millionaire’s Shortbread, one of my favourite Wellington poetry anthologies – and that’s a definite recommendation!
News that Tower Insurance and other insurance companies are considering refusing to insure houses in flood-prone areas reminded me of “Written Off”, a poem from my 2016 collection New Sea Land.
The set of climate change consequences outlined in this poem were not difficult to come up with. Perhaps, if our “leaders” had spent more time thinking about consequences and less time bowing and scraping to vested interests, we wouldn’t be in quite such a deep hole seven years after this poem was first published.
It was a lovely surprise to learn that my poem “Restraints”, first published in takahē, had been selected for inclusion in the 2022 edition of Ōrongohau | Best New Zealand Poems, edited and introduced by Louise Wallace. It’s a beautifully produced selection of 25 poems first published in 2022 – please check it out:
My first publication in Best New Zealand Poems was in 2004, with my poem The Translator, later included in my 2007 collection All Blacks’ Kitchen Gardens. It’s great to be back!
“Restraints” was inspired by the Our Other Mother campaign from Parents for Climate Aotearoa. They’re a great group that do vital climate education work – please check them out, too.
