New Zealand Listener

The year’s best verse

AT THE POINT OF SEEING by Megan Kitching (OUP)

Apoet steeped in botany and traditional poetry, Kitching brings a unique perspective to plants we often overlook. Avoiding preachiness, she makes us aware of even the smallest things in nature and considers how much we are all shaped by natural forces –like surfers pushed about by the waves.

BIG FAT BROWN BITCH by Tusiata Avia (THWUP)

Just as punchy as her earlier collection, The Savage Coloniser, but twice as combative. Avia takes on her critics

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