Tuesday poem: 'Sigourney Weaver and I Go to Bed' by Emma Barnes

Sigourney Weaver and I Go to Bed

Sigourney Weaver flew me some place on what seemed a too small
aeroplane. We didn’t talk about her appearance in Avatar. The
papyrus got between us: A font of discontent. She held my hand
inside her shirt and said that she just wanted me to hold her up.
I had a potato gun in my back pocket. She passed the tuber.

After landing we arrived at a white bed. It seemed as tall as she was
to me: a more dumpling sized human. There were steps around the
edges and the middle was a long marshmallow cloudland in the style
of my home country. I could see her foggy outline reflected in the
roof. Her flannelette pyjamas were covered in the faces of dogs.

‘This is where we go to bed’ she said. I looked up into her size-9
eyes. ‘But, I’m more of a cat person?’ This was just like going out with
the 42-year-old butch I dated when I was 21. A lot of determined
looks and short phrasing. But she was already up on the mountainy
pillowtop and a long, slender arm loomed at me. The life rope of

a completely different social class. This place was no Dream Father
mansion, but it sure had something going for it. I was lying in bed 
with you. It was a Thursday. Outside the white noise said it was 
summer and the cicadas were okay with that. It had been clear weather
for almost ten days. Standing in the sun a person could be 

described as hot. But I’m not allowed to write letters in bed, says
Sigourney. The ink will make a mess of the linen. So I lie there
composing in my head. In bed with Sigourney Weaver. In bed with
you. She can palm a basketball. You’re more of a music man than
sports fan. Sigourney Weaver and I go to bed. All I can think of is you.

Emma Barnes

(Please forgive some of the line breaks, my design just isn't wide enough to fit the longest lines)

I wanted to share this poem because Emma read it at the launch we had for JAAM 31 on Friday, at 19 Tory, a space run by the Concerned Citizens Collective (thanks guys!). We hadn't had a bit public launch for JAAM for a long time - or actually maybe never. (Though we have had smaller launches from time to time, but not that often.) It was really lovely to gather together the Wellington-based contributors (though more of them are scattered around the country) and have a celebration. It was nice to put some faces to names, and also people could put our faces to our names. JAAM has been quite an anonymous work sometimes and it was good to connect with some of our community.

Cover image by Andy Palmer, cover design by me

But the big treat was having some readings from a few of the wonderful writers whose work is in JAAM - Helen Heath, Tim Jones, Pip Adam, Sandi Sartorelli, Lucy Kirton, Chris Tse and Emma - and there were more writers we would have loved to have had read too.

This poem by Emma is just one of three 'Sigourney Weaver' poems in this issue of JAAM, which are just three of many of a wonderful series. They're all quite different, but they all have the same form, and a similar tone I think. I've been loving seeing more and more of them appear

As well as in JAAM, you can read more of them in the recently published 4th Floor journal, and in Cordite, and you can listen to some on Soundcloud here and here (this is the poem above).

And once you're done with Sigourney Weaver, you might want to check out some other Tuesday poems at the hub: http://tuesdaypoem.blogspot.co.nz/.

Tuesday Poem: 'Sigourney Weaver and the Dream Father' by Emma Barnes

A few weeks ago was The Difficult Second Twitter Poetry Night NZ on Twitter. If you missed it, or want to relive it, you can find it 'Storified' here: http://storify.com/ashleigh_young/the-difficult-second-twitter-poetry-night. There were lots of wonderful poems in wonderful voices - the voices sound so warm. I shared 'Emily Dickinson at home'.

But the poem I wanted to share as my Tuesday poem is Emma Barnes's 'Sigourney Weaver and the Dream Father'. I also heard Emma read it recently at Valhalla (in Raumati, rather than the mythical place), and I like it very much. My fav bit is I think the bit where Sigourney Weaver turns the tap on the phone. You'll have to listen to it:

Also, it's the Tuesday Poem blog's third birthday (my god!) and so we're writing an accumulating communal poem. I've just left my bit: http://tuesdaypoem.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/3rd-birthday-communal-jazz-poem.html. More Tuesday poems in the sidebar, including my poem 'Curtains', which Mary McCallum is sharing on her blog this week: http://mary-mccallum.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/tuesday-poem-curtains-by-helen-rickerby.html

I'm doing a poetry reading

My dear friend Vana is back in NZ for barely any time at all, and so we decided to hastily organise a poetry reading with our friends Emma Barnes and Stefanie Lash. Sorry for the short notice! The details are below, and if you're a Facebooker, the event is here: http://www.facebook.com/events/321034821241035/.

Hope you might be able to make it.

-----------------------------

December the 7th, 1911: King George and Queen Mary rode through Delhi amidst a military salute and the singing of the national anthem. The royal couple met with 150 rajahs, maharajahs and sultans. Elephants were banned from the parade for fear of them charging.

And, 100 years later: Vana Manasiadis, Helen Rickerby, Emma Barnes and Stefanie Lash read poems at 6 pm, at Blondini's (the cafe at The Embassy theatre), Kent Terrace, Wellington

Come one, come all. The cafe/bar will be open. The reading is free. Vana and Helen will have some books to for you to buy if you're interested. There will be no elephants.

Vana Manasiadis’s first poetry book was Ithaca Island Bay Leaves: A Mythistorima. She grew up in Island Bay, and has lived in Athens, Paris and Bologna and is currently living in Crete.

Helen Rickerby is the author two collections of poetry, My Iron Spine and Abstract Internal Furniture, and one hand-bound chapbook, Heading North. She runs Seraph Press, a boutique poetry publisher, and is co-managing editor of JAAM magazine.

Emma Barnes has had poems selected for Best New Zealand Poems in 2010 and 2008. She was the editor of Enamel, a short-lived but much-loved literary journal.

Stefanie Lash completed a MA in creative writing in 2005. Her poetry has been widely published in journals.

Tuesday Poem: 'Milk for Money' by Emma Barnes, and all the other Best NZ Poems 2010

I'm not going to actually repost this poem, which was included in Best New Zealand Poems 2010, as selected by Chris Price, rather I simply direct you it there: http://www.nzetc.org/iiml/bestnzpoems/BNZP10/t1-g1-t3-body-d1.html.

'Milk for Money' is one of the longer poems I've ever seen of Emma's, and it uses the length to tell a lifetime, or rather several lifetimes. I love its shifty, mythic use of time. As well as time, it bends gender, it bends language. It's full of love, it's full of loss, it's full of colour.

I was delighted to see that so many of my friends and acquaintances have poems in this latest selection of Best New Zealand Poems (and there are others I'd definitely have included, if it were my selection, which it obviously wasn't). Congratulations to you all! Check them out: http://www.nzetc.org/iiml/bestnzpoems/BNZP10/contents.html.

Also, it was the Tuesday Poem's first birthday last week, and to celebrate we collectively wrote a poem, exquisite-corpse style. And now it's done, and you can check it out on the blog: http://www.tuesdaypoem.blogspot.com/. I wrote my bit on Friday afternoon, and found I was really nervous about it beforehand - I'm not much of a collaborative writer, and I tend to keep my work away from prying eyes until I'm sure I'm ready to release it into the world. But actually, it was really fun.

As always, for more Tuesday Poems, check out the sidebar on the blog.

Tuesday poem: 'Soon, The Nobody' by Emma Barnes

This poem is about the citizenship-less children of Zainichi Koreans
who have been living in Japan, tenuously and permanently, since the
Japanese occupation of Korea.

I find this poem really haunting. I think it's good to read it without knowing what it's about, and then good to read it again after reading the note. Well, that's what I did when I first read it in Landfall.

Emma Barnes lives and writes in Aro Valley, Wellington. She launched the first issue of her new literary magazine Enamel in early 2009, another issue was released in June. She's had poetry published in JAAM, Landfall, Catalyst and Best New Zealand Poems 2008, among other places.

Also, if you happen to be near Palmerston North this Wednesday, you can go see (and hear) her read at Stand Up Poetry at the library. All the details are here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=129034570476304&index=1.

And more Tuesday Poems can be found, for your delectation, at the Tuesday Poem blog: http://tuesdaypoem.blogspot.com/.

Happy new year, and Turbine

Happy new year! For me so far it has been a pretty subdued one. I hope the rest of the year won't be though. I'm hoping for a year of growth and action.

Turbine online literary magazine was published late last year, and includes work by several people of importance to me. I haven't read through all of it yet, but want to point out in particular new work by Vana Manasiadis, whose first collection I just published (Ithaca Island Bay Leaves: a Mythistorima). As well as her two poems 'Was it Only a Scratch' (which is particularly exquisitely beautiful) and 'Essay', there are sound files of her reading them - and she reads very well.

Helen Heath, whose debut chapbook, Watching for Smoke, I published in October, has five poems from a longer series (Nostos – Ithaka) included, and also fascinating excerpts from her reading journal.

And among many other notable contributors I'm pleased to see new work from Emma Barnes, 'Landslide' and 'Last Year'.

Montana Poetry Day 2009

This year Montana Poetry Day* is coming up in a few weeks on the 24th of July. Lots of poetry events will be occurring around NZ, books will be launched and the winners of the poetry sections of the books awards will be announced.

As I mentioned in a previous post, as part of a new initiative, my Seraph Press website and the JAAM website are both featuring Poetry Day poems from recent publications on their front pages. Seraph Press features 'Biograph' by Scott Kendrick, from Cold Comfort, Cold Concrete: Poems & Satires – the last book I published. JAAM features 'come here at once' by Emma Barnes, which was published in JAAM 26. Check them out - they're both great, and quite different from each other.

If you're looking for other ways to celebrate Montana Poetry Day, visit the official site or NZLive.com.

*(For overseas readers, Montana is the name of a wine brand, which sponsors the day, and has nothing to do with Montana the state.)

Enamel – issue one

Welcome to the world Enamel!

Enamel is New Zealand's newest literary magazine, edited and published by poet Emma Barnes.

Enamel is the most attractive first issues of a literary magazine that I've ever come across. Not only does it have a full-colour, matt-laminated cover, but it also has colour images on the inside.

This first issue features work by some familiar names, including Johanna Aitchison, Tim Jones, Miriam Barr, Jennifer Compton, Helen Heath, and yours truly (with 'Nothinghead', which is one of my 'movie' poems).

I enjoyed the work of the above-mentioned people, but another particular highlight was 'Inside' by Lori Leigh, a US poet and playwright I'd never heard of.

If you'd like to get your paws on a copy of this attractive journal, it' s stocked by Unity Auckland, and will probably be stocked by Unity Wellington. Or you can buy a copy on Trade Me - Emma is trying out this selling books over Trade Me business (I blogged about this a while ago) and I'll be interested to see how it goes.

Or, you can email email enamel dot editor at gmail dot com, and buy a hard copy for $15 or a pdf for 'a donation of your specification'.

Enamel is going to be published annually at this stage. Submissions for issue two don't close until the end of September, but you can read the submissions guidelines on Enamel's blog.