Well, I'm attempting to write up some of my impressions of the Writers and Readers Festival, now it's all over. It's been great, but I'm… wrecked! Got to hit the sack, but before I do, the lovely Graham Lindsey has sent in his impressions of another literary event, Fugacity (scroll down for our article from last Tuesday). We LOVE it when people send in their responses to an event. More, please! If we can't be there, we really want to hear what it was like… so, over to you, Graham:

Highlights of the festival for me were as follows, more or less in
chronological order: Tusiata Avia's performances, both as part of Selina
Marsh's discussion on a Pacific poetry web and in the 13X5 reading. I can
imagine some audiences being doubled over by her outrageous satire. Here
we're a little more reserved, but no less mesmerized, perhaps as much by the
dark side of her persona.

Bronwyn Fletcher's 'floor talk' on Bethell's watercolours; especially
intriguing was the enigmatic note on the back of one of them: 'Attempt to
render a vision – sent by request of the vision though considered a failure
by the maker in the attempt.'

Bernadette Hall's paper on the correspondence between Bethell and Antarctic
explorer Edmond Wilson's wife, Oriana. Bernadette conjected the two at a
party at Sir Joseph Kinsey's place on Clifton Hill to farewell the 1912
expedition. Kinsey had an extensive colection of ukiyo-e (images of the
floating world; where the philosophy underpinning fugacity comes from). She
also drew our attention to the two women's salacious discussion of the
outing of one of Wilson's men.

Michele Leggott's introductions. Michele is the director and initiator of
nzepc. Everything comes from somewhere of course, and in her tribute to
Robert Creeley, who had died the previous week, she acknowledged the model
for nzepc in Creeley's epc at Buffalo, especially his people-first approach.

Brian Flaherty's demystifying of the poet's 'digital toolbox'. Brian's own
digital poems are moving examples of this direction poetry is taking. He
deserves a medal as they say for the huge amount of work he does in the
cultural mines as nzepc's cyberspace engineer. Dave Ciccoricco's
introduction to kinetic poetry was also an eye-opener.

Throughout, the revelation of the trove that is Ursula Bethell. Everyone has
their favourite Canterbury poet and mine had been Allen Curnow, though the
best of his Canterbury poems were written in his last years and in Auckland.
In Bethell, however, I feel I've found a poet almost worth identifying as a
Cantabrian for – shock, horror!

Informally, as one of the gang of organisers, I got to enjoy some
off-programme events, including a 1920s Canterbury dinner Bethell herself
would have been impressed by, and she 'was an excellent, a most excellent,
cook', plus a visit to the house on the Cashmere Hills where she lived and
the opportunity to consider the view that gave her some of her memorable
lines:

And the dun green flatlands where a few human lights glimmered
(from 'Glory')

Under the silence I hear
Deep calling to deep.

It is the surge of unplumbed seas
Of being, from before time was
(from 'Waves')

This was where Bethell, in one of the happiest moments of her life,
celebrating her 60th birthday, invited God to test her. The person whose
presence had brought out her gift for poetry took ill a few days later and
died within a month. And Bethell stopped writing, apart from the
heartbreaking memorial poems she wrote to Effie Pollen, one each year for
the following six years:

Once again, my darling, it is come, the time you died
(from November,1939)

Students of Claire Hero's writing class at the University of Canterbury,
calling themselves the FUGITIVES, turned on a terrific show for a full house
at SOFA Gallery. The following night it was standing room only, as five
minutes by each of thirteen poets strutting their stuff with introductions
by John Newton proved a crowd-pleasing formula. Of them perhaps Fiona
Farrell's road poem stuck out most (I was a little distracted, being one of
the performers myself, and wasn't listening as well as I ought to have
been). She can get down and dirty with ideas and has a spunky vision of the
world.

The dual launch by Michele and Michael Harlow of new books was one of the
more affirming launches I've attended. Their generous introductions of the
other's work, followed by one poem each was civilised, heart-warming stuff.
And it was great having Michael back in town and hearing his
attention-fixing poems. In fact it was a considerable charge all up having
the big heart of poetry swing into town, and for that gratitude and much of
the credit is due to Michele Leggott.

Thanks again for that Graham – Kathy.