The Spaces Between Things, by Linda Benninghoff, erbacce-press publications, , Liverpool UK, pages (chapbook). Reviewed by Maureen Alsop.

Linda Benninghoff's chapbook, The Spaces Between Things, is a resonant elegy for the multifaceted turbulence of a journey through grief. Her poems highlight the intimacy of lost moments, the forbearance of death and consistently return to the unanswerable questions of the living, finding comfort in both memory and awakening: “When things failed for me/I went to see you.” She writes, “I cannot find you easily…” Benninghoff asks the dead, “do the fires of the stars burn harder there?” and recounts the dreams of the dying. Dreams, of well-articulated gardens and a white-planked house, empty, with open doors. She asks, “Is the after-life like that?” Benninghoff's emotional exploration begins with recollections of a beloved friend, traverses through the loss of childhood and relations with her father, “ …as if he has not understood or liked / me for forty years, / his hair white and indefinite as clouds, his eyes/razors, but he says nothing,/ watches the fish flash green/ in the sunlight that slants underwater.” The chapbook I was thoroughly immersed in images of birds: cormorants, crows, owl, gulls, and juncos. Images of nature gather around the collection, creating observations, which in themselves, respond with a sharp listening, a reminder of transience, and a peace with the inevitable. In the poem 'Five Juncos' Benninghoff reflects on the ease with which birds seem to live “Plump, thin-beaked, /with a contented look, they do not torment themselves/ with last night's cold and dark, /or the coming winter./The sun shines strong for them… ” It is an observation of comfort, perhaps from which the speaker gains strength: “I think I will love this earth /for its hardness/ its mornings, for the sky that makes a home for the birds/ for the blond throbbing sun/ for my childhood…” Ultimately, Benninghoff maps clarity through the complexity of human relations, and finds beauty at sorrow's core.

Reviewed by Trevor Reeves:

Penata Street, poems by Michael O'Leary, Published by HeadworX,, Wellington NZ.
The cover is unusual; O'Leary looks like a Cornish farmer there, but no matter. The inevitable quote from Bob Dylan inside front marks the tone of the book. This is another in a long line of literary publications from O'Leary but started off ominously with a poem called “Poem Addressed to Poets”. Never fear though, it's to the “unknown poet” who may be known, but not so well known. It is a romantic view of the 'poet' in a garret, saying things society frowns upon (or ignores) and, what can be worse than “a frustrated civil servant without a lover” - must be scores of them in Wellington. When poets write about poets, often instinct and creativity go out the window. You would have to read this yourself to check that out. Better is 'Love Poem' although it ends lamely. More dicey than poems about poets though, is poems about poems. With a title like 'It Is Poetry' it parodies the whole dilemma of that. Don't get me wrong though, these poems are very workmanlike, solid, sturdy, traditional and sometimes the same things do not have to be said in new ways. In 'Neo-sticky fingers', posturing is described in exquisite style. I'll leave it for some other reviewer to describe the intricacies of the multiple references, of which there are lots, but really, I'm just not quite sure where this poems leads us; if indeed it is supposed to lead us anywhere at all. I am just hoping that this book does not get left on library shelves everywhere and that someone does find value in it, for I am sure it has value; the years of experience of O'Leary's life and effort. Go for it.
My Iron Spine, Helen Rickerby, HeadworX Press, Wellington, NZ. $24.99.
This is essentially a book by a woman about women and for women. So it seems to me, anyway. Nothing wrong with that, of course. The author is an editor employed in Wellington so is experienced about the whole literary scene and very much involved in it. There's a fixation with corsets, as the title implies. The first part of the book weaves its autobiographical way so that we get into the private life of this quite quirky person. One can establish a sense of identity with the third, from the first and second, which traverses the lives of some famous women; Joan of Arc, Virginia Wolfe, Katherine Mansfield etc; describing partying with these famous expired people. There are lots of historical references here so you have to be rather agile in the mind to work them all out and connect them up. In 'Married to Genius' Rickerby traverses the relationship between Middleton Murry and Katherine Mansfield. Based lavishly on supposition it kind of rings true I think; finishing as a romantic tear-jerker though. Fair enough I guess. Some deft and not so deft word portraits of famous women; take your choice - whatever works for you. For me, I always look to where the water comes from, not the fountain. However, there some poems I can enjoy - ones that are evocative enough, like 'Mary Shelley” and 'Lucretia circa 1621”. I guess many will find more and not just women readers either. Well worth a look.
Get Some, Poems by Sonja Yelich, Auckland University Press, Auckland, New Zealand. $24.99
This small book of poems follows on from the earlier collection, “Clung', of 2004 (July). This book shows Yelich on the cover (one presumes) to be more upmarket and smoking a fag, yes. And a very official looking hat, oh yes. War plays a part here, mainly in a 'stream of consciousness' gradually gathering an overall view of American culture. By the way, 'get some' means 'go get some kill', to the American Marines. The writing is mainly mirroring in technique the random information coming from various media. This gives the impression of some consistent observation and regurgitation that sometime pays off, such as in 'Paraphernalia' - the scene of a hospital - very noisy and drear, but realistic and interesting. Much of the work is an 'impression map' and giving the impression it is all done from the comfort of Yelich's armchair. Not to say such and activity is unworthy, though, simply dictated by circumstance and can be made to be excitingly real. I shall be watching this poet's further work with interest as it displays some exciting word usage and ideas.
AUP New Poets, Three: Janis Freegard, Katherine Liddy and Riehana Robinson. Auckland University Press, Auckland New Zealand. $24.99.
Three fresh new voices from the Auckland region are represented in this book, apart from Katherine Liddy, who lives in Vancouver. Nice to see. Janis Freegard's work deals mainly with spiders; mainly Alice spider and her adventures. You might think these are suitable for children only but they are very adult, and in my opinion, very well written. Most are based around domestic considerations, and memorabilia reconstructed. Some expressed (Animal Tales) - prologue) with a delightful naivety. With Reihana Robinson there is a delightful Pacific Island flavour. Done exquisitely though and not patronisingly. I liked 'Thinking of my Father' best, I think. There is an air of authority about the poems that is not too obtrusive. And the speculation about Thai restaurants, fine. And, 'Waiting for the Palagi' - forever? There is much here that is worthy of some careful reading; highly recommended. Lastly, The remaining poet here, Katherine Liddy (born in Dunedin by the way) - now living in Vancouver. The theme seems to be “explain the earth and what's in it” which leads to some of the poems being a bit dense and obscure, but nonetheless interesting. Plenty of historical and literary references here. Take a trip to Delphi, with Liddy! Ends appropriately: “I am and seek my ends”. Any the wiser? Fantasy is revealed in “The Painter's Wife” A word for every purpose and a purpose for every word. A lot of nice browsing in this book and I would like to see more work from all of them in the future. Etiquette for a Dinner Party, short stories by Sue Orr. Random House Publishing, Auckland, New Zealand. $29.99.
A generous number of pages in this book 268 pages in fact. These are competently written 'beginning / middle / end' stories about various subjects built around social etiquettes that we are all too familiar with. A lovely book to take away with you on holiday, to browse in, to take to bed with you and absorb. My favourite story is 'The Death of Mrs Harrison', a pungently written 'real life experience' of a woman dying of cancer and the effects of that on the relatives who visit. The realism is genuine and startling but there are not many surprises and that applies to many of the other stories here. They suffer from many of the side characters not being very well defined as if they are totally incidental to the main 'plot'. Others meander along happily, like 'Look Ma, no Hands' but with no inevitable crash at the end of it. It is quite a talent here to make so much out of sheer trivia; so we should be grateful. 'The Hangi' space-fills its way through many pages and ends up as one of the biggest cookbooks I have ever seen; about just one recipe. But everybody gets to eat, safely and cleanly, ho hum. 'Lifeline' is more pungent, shorter, and much more interesting. A good read as many of the other stories are. Especially 'Sustenance' a story mirroring Miller's 'Death of a Salesman' - nice to see again though. Not so much a repeat but a re-creation though, with lots of new twists. Sensitively done. So many twists and turns - the hapless disintegration of a really earnest man. All very sad; the pick of the bunch here though, and you ought to buy this book even if just for that one story. 'Fee Simple' is good too. Full of terror, foreign ownership, plants that won't grow, the fax machine, with a life of it's own - very menacing and strange; an amazing fantasyland….. well done.

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