Blog

This is Mark's blog.

Mark Pirie co-authors an anthology of lockdown poetry

June 2020 saw the release of an anthology of national lockdown poems by myself, Alex Jeune and Margaret Jeune. 

I put together the sequence from our poems written during the COVID-19 national lockdown period, March to May 2020, in New Zealand.

The book gives three differing perspectives by New Zealand poets on the global crisis and is our personal responses to it. Our book is not meant to speak for everyone’s thoughts and feeling during the lockdown period in New Zealand. We hope it gives an affirming sense to readers of what we have all been through and endured during the lockdown in New Zealand.

It is published in the relaunched ESAW Mini Series (No. 39).

Here's the link to the publisher's blog:

https://michaeloleary.wordpress.com/2020/07/16/esaw-publishes-lockdown-mini-book/

Mark Pirie compiles an anthology of the ESAW Poetry Prize winners

February 2020 sees the release of an anthology I compiled of the winners of the ESAW Poetry Prize, 2007-2019.

It is published in the relaunched ESAW Mini Series (No. 36).

The winners are: Evelyn Conlon 2007, Will Leadbeater 2008, Jill Chan 2009, Robin Fry 2010, Barry Southam 2011, Jeanne Bernhardt 2016, Mary Maringikura Campbell 2017, Bill Dacker 2018 and Jeremy Roberts 2019.

Here is the link to the publisher's blog:
https://michaeloleary.wordpress.com/2020/02/06/esaw-publishes-the-esaw-poetry-prize-anthology/

Mark Pirie edits a posthumous book by Michael Duffett (USA)

February 2020 sees the release of a booklet of poems by the late Californian Professor and poet Michael Duffett (1943-2019). 

I put together the sequence, 20 Sonnets, from well over a hundred uncollected poems sent to me by the author as his poetry editor 2014-2019.

It is published in the relaunched ESAW Mini Series (No. 37).

I intend to preserve and keep in print the best of Michael Duffett's poetry. Duffett passed away in 2019 from a terminal illness. Further publication of his work may continue in archival form for research libraries and his readers. 

Here's the link to the publisher's blog:
https://michaeloleary.wordpress.com/2020/02/06/esaw-published-a-posthumous-book-of-sonnets-by-michael-duffett-usa/

Mark Pirie and Tim Jones publish Star Words

In December, a new anthology of Science Fiction and speculative poetry, Star Words, compiled by Tim Jones and myself featured in the relaunched ESAW mini series.

We compiled the A6 booklet anthology from poems read on 30 October 2019 at the 10th anniversary reading for Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand, winner of the Vogel Award for Best Collected Work 2009. Tim Jones and I co-edited Voyagers together. The event was held at Vic Books, Lambton Quay.

Contributors to Star Words include Janis Freegard, Tim Jones, Harvey Molloy, Vivienne Plumb, Nick Ascroft, Margaret Jeune, Tabatha Wood, Tony Hopkins,  Michael O’Leary and myself.

We have dedicated the booklet to the memory of  B. E. Turner, technical editor of the ESAW Mini Series, d. October 2019.

Here's the link to the publisher's blog:
https://michaeloleary.wordpress.com/2019/12/15/esaw-publishes-star-words-mini-book-anthology/