Montana Poetry Day is almost upon us, and will be celebrated on Friday 21 July.

Auckland poetry aficionados can whet their appetites the Thursday before the big event, with an entrée performance by some of New Zealand’s finest poets at the gala launch of Classic New Zealand Poets in Performance.

This is a 2-CD set of 27 classic New Zealand poets, from Fairburn to Brian Turner, reading their own work. The CDs are accompanied by a book containing not only the poems, but also biographies and bibliographies of each poet.

The poets are arranged chronologically by date of birth, and each reads for approximately five minutes in recordings made in 1974 and/or 2004.

They include some leading voices of NZ poetry - Mason, Curnow, Glover, Baxter, Edmond, Tuwhare, Frame and Campbell - who were chosen for the 'quality and significance of their work and their commitment to voice and performance as an integral part of their poetry'.

At the launch you can join C K Stead, Anne Kennedy and Riemke Ensing, which is being hosted by Auckland University Press in conjunction with the New Zealand Book Council.

Venue: Hobson Room, Jubilee Conference Centre, 545 Parnell Road, Parnell, Auckland

Time: Thursday 20 July, 6:30pm–7:30pm

Tickets: Book Council members $10, Students/unwaged $12, Non-members $15.