news – Olivia Macassey

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Great Plate, 2021

Great Plate 2021

Once again it’s time for the fun Quarry Arts charitable trust fundraiser that has local artists creating and auctioning plates. Looks like another fun year with to potters including Jin Ling , Greg Barron, and Marilyn Wheeler joined by artists as diverse as SallySpicer, Matt Kelly, Aru Singh, and Neil Gaiman.

My plate, ‘Moon poem’ is a very short original poem by me, hand glazed on a ceramic plate; the plate itself was thrown by talented local potter Israel Dawson.

Opening: Thursday 29th July at the Yvonne Rust Gallery, 21 Selwyn Ave, Whangarei.

Listings on Trade Me start on opening night – you can bid on them here, or view them at the Yvonne Rust Gallery.

Sometimes when I think
of the moon, the moon is
thinking of you.

Anthology of Love for the Book – downloadable pdf

July 20, 2021 / Livingston /

Writer and musician William Direen has edited an anthology to raise awareness on the issue of the disposal of over 600,000 books from the National Library. One of my poems, ‘Footnote concerning a vanished book’ is included. You can read or download the anthology here, and a print version will be distributed later in the year.

The Anthology of Love for the Book brings 52 promising young poets, prominent journalists, and several time-honoured poet laureates, winners of Prime Ministers Awards and Robert Burns Fellows together for a massive Hui.

All the writers share deep concern at continuing disposals of books at the National LIbrary of NZ. Every week, thousands of books are vanishing. Among the writers are Dame Fiona Kidman, herself a former librarian, C.K. Stead, perhaps the most respected literary figure in New Zealand, David Eggleton, poet laureate, current Landfall editor Lynley Edmeades; and Associate Professor Peter Simpson, who has written a special essay about Colin McCahon’s use of libraries.

—press release

In association with Book Guardians Aotearoa.

Call for submissions – Fast Fibres 2021

March 28, 2021 / Livingston /

The theme of Fast Fibres Poetry 8 this year is open.

Editors Piet Nieuwland and Olivia Macassey invite poets with a strong Northland connection to submit 3 of your best poems.

Send submissions by email:fastfibres@live.com by June 11, 2021.

Note: Each poem should preferably be no longer than 20 lines single spaced , 12 point Times New Roman. Poems must be submitted as a single Word document with your name in the filename. PDFs and handwritten submissions will not be considered. Please include a two line biographical statement.

Fast Fibres will be launched in print and online on National Poetry Day, August 27, 2021

Website: www.fastfibres.wordpress.com

Intangential at the Whangarei Fringe Festival

October 5, 2020 / Livingston /

Intangential 2020

This month I’m part of a show at the Whangarei Fringe Festival called Intangential, an eclectic fusion of musicians, including a youth orchestra; poets, and dancers.

Among other things, I am doing a collaborative performance with the wonderful and talented cello player Robert Davis (with beautiful assistants Lisa Young and Matt Kelly).

Music, poetry, dancing… Morgan McCaskill, Toi-Akorangi, Robert Davis, Piet Nieuwland, The Bank St Serious Band, Maggie Buxton, Nur Habibi Dancers.

Intangential, Wednesday 21 October 7.30 pm, ONEONESIX Bank St, Whangarei.
Tickets $10 ($8 concession) from Eventfinda or on the door.

“If you thought you knew who we were, think again”

Whangarei Fringe, 10-26 October 2020

Re-issue of Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

August 22, 2020 / Livingston /

Titus Books have released a new e-book edition of my first collection of poetry, Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction! First published in 2005, Love in the Age contains several long poems, including the performance-based poems ‘Exciting Poses’ and ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’.

Buy here:

Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction on Amazon

Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction on Kobo

Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction at Apple Books

Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction at Barnes and Noble

Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction at Vivlio

Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction at MeBooks NZ (NZD$5, available in epub or mobi /kindle format).

“The phrases range from details of an inner city Auckland skyline to desire to colloquialisms to the mechanics of sex, through to continental theory to myth to the perils of gendered embodiment and back to love, to wanting, missing, fullness and the mysteries of attachment. Everything is allowed in, and is kept under exquisite control. In this poetry, giving oneself over to the affect of the unknown is the key to love; the shape of the self can be seen through attention to luck’s accuracy.” – Stephanie Christie

Fast Fibres Poetry 7

August 18, 2020 / Livingston /

Fast Fibres 7

New anthology out now!

Fast Fibres Poetry Seven: from Northland, ed. Piet Nieuwland and Olivia Macassey
(Fast Fibres Poetry Collective, 2020)

Featuring the diverse and talented: Sarah Angus, Stuart Noel Angus, Shelley Arlidge, Julia Barber, Carolyn Bond, Maggie Buxton, Veronica Cleary, Tony Clemow, Geraldine Craw, Courtney Davis, Robert Davis, Kanjini Devi, Lydia Draper, Murray Edmond, Arthur Fairley, Desmond Ford, Malcolm Ford, John Geraets, Michael Giacon, Vaughan Gunson, Jacqueline Gurney, Ann-Marie Houng Lee, Tim Howard, Hayden Hyams, Jac Jenkins, Lynda Joy King, Audrey Lappin, Tracie Lark, Fran Lawrence, Wes Lee, me, Sen McGlinn, Jack McKerchar, David Mounter, Piet Nieuwland, June Pitman-Hayes, Denise O’Hagan, Martin Porter, Kirsty Powell, Vaughan Rapatahana, Ron Riddell, Natascha Rodenburg, Ila Selwyn, Greg Shaw, Naomi Sioux, Joanne Tasker, David Taylor, Vivian Thonger, Alistair Tulett, Gerry Webb, and Mercedes Webb-Pullman.

Art: front cover Scott McFarlane, The Road to Kaikohe (detail); back cover Natascha J.A. Rodenburg, Moving Coil 3.

Launch: Thursday 20 August, 5.30pm to 7.30pm
Location: Poets At ONEONESIX, 116 Bank Street Whangarei

To purchase: contact Piet Nieuwland fastfibres@live.com

Further events:
National Poetry Day: Poetry Posse & Fast Fibres Poets
Friday 21 August, 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Kāri Āhua. The Āhua Garden 22 Bank Street, Whangarei

Kawakawa: Kings Theatre Creative Poetry Open Mic
Sunday 23 August, 1 to 3pm
Kings Theatre Creative, 80 Gillies Street, Kawakawa

Please note: the Fast Fibres Poetry Pop Up at the central library is postponed this year due to Level 2 restrictions.

Great Plate, 2020

July 12, 2020 / Livingston /

Glazed ceramic, 25 cm

The Quarry Arts Centre is running its yearly fundraiser again! My plate, ‘Will the Sea Remember Us?‘ is hand-glazed ceramic with an original, previously unpublished poem applied using caligraphy brush and glaze pencil (the plate itself was thrown by Mike Regan).
Despite the recent lockdown, there is still a lot of creative energy in the community and heaps of cool plates. You can view and bid on all the plates on Trademe here, or in real life at the Yvonne Rust Gallery, 21 Selwyn Ave, Whangarei (open 9.30am-4.30pm, Mon-Sat). The auction closes on Monday, July 20, at 5:30 pm.

We were
made from ocean,
from mud, clay, air; the
shadow of a lone bird, flying
against the sun. We move now
toward an unknown horizon.

Will the sea remember us
when we are gone?

Summer, 2020

January 5, 2020 / Livingston /

Look for me in: Rabbit issue 29 – lineages.

Rabbit, a journal of nonfiction poetry is gorgeous as always, and I’m really happy to have a poem in here. The issue theme is lineages (in every sense of the word) and the guest poetry editors are Chi Tran and Matthew Hall. I wanted to mention a few of the poets in it but would soon run out of space – I like every single thing in this issue a lot!

What I am reading: essa may ranapiri’s Ransack, John Geraets’ Everything’s Something in Place and Paula Green’s tour de force, Wild Honey.

24 hour poetry

September 12, 2019 / Livingston /

Much to my excitement, my poem ‘Redefinite’ has come first in Joanna Preston‘s amazing 24 Hour Poetry Competition.

It was a really fun event, in which contestants had just 24 hours to write a poem using 10 supplied words, on National Poetry Day. Participants then got to read a bunch of the submitted poems as we voted for Audience choice (Mark Edgecomb), and then we have the winner, runner up (Kirstie McHale), and Organizer’s Husband’s Choice (Briar Lawry) as well. Prizewinners received poetry books, courtesy of Victoria University Press. It was a timely reminder, for me, of the productive, generative element of chance and constraint, & really made me look twice at each of the words we were given. It is a revelation seeing the variety of poems that were produced – the ones we got to read were excellent. Moreover, we were well taken care of – there was even an Emergency Sloth Video on the day, for those of us who were flagging!

Fast Fibres Poetry 6

August 18, 2019 / Livingston /

Fast Fibres 6 New anthology out now!

Fast Fibres Poetry Six: from Northland ed. Piet Nieuwland and Olivia Macassey
(Fast Fibres Poetry Collective, 2019)

Featuring: Sarah Angus, Shelley Arlidge, Julia Barber, Michael Botur, Rob Burt, Lyndsay Campbell, Veronica Cleary, Geraldine Craw, Robert Davis, D’Bruce, Daphne de Jong, Murray Edmond, Lola Elvy, Arthur Fairley, Malcolm Ford, John Geraets, Michael Giacon, Mike Gillard, Narine Groome, Vaughan Gunson, Steve Herbert, Aidan-Barrett Howard, Lincoln Jaques, Christel Jeffs, Jac Jenkins, Lynda King, Audrey Lappin, Tracie Lark, Fran Lawrence, Wes Lee, Olivia Macassey, Grahame Maclean, Jack McKerchar, Philip Muir, Piet Nieuwland, Heidi North, Margaret Northey, Denise O’Hagan, June Pitman, Andi Podesta, Martin Porter, Vaughan Rapatahana, Aaron Robertson, Natascha Rodenburg, Ila Selwyn, Greg Shaw, Karen Sidney, Ashlee-Ann Sneller, Suzanne Takiwa, Joanne Tasker, Anne-Marie Te Whiu, Loren Thomas, Vivian Thonger, Mercedes Webb-Pullman, and Briar Wood.

Art: front cover Natascha Rodenburg; back cover Mandy Sunlight.

Launch: Thursday 22 August, 5.30pm to 7.30pm
Location: Poets At ONEONESIX, 116 Bank Street Whangarei

To purchase: contact Piet Nieuwland fastfibres@live.com

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