Reviewed by Trevor Reeves

REVIEWS (by Trevor Reeves) Newton's Sleep, Daniel Mahony. Random Static, P. O. Box 10104, Wellington, New Zealand.
This is science fiction with all the bells and whistles. It has a dead angel in a tree, a nymph rising from the waters of Kent, dead man getting healed in the grave anduncanny skull-masked doctors descending upon a plague house in 1683. But there's more… and do you know, Aphra Behn - she-spy and poetesse - infiltrates a gathering of alchemists; in 1649, the English kill their king, and history begins. We are not to sure what happens before that, but it is nice to go on…. And we do; 276 pages of it. For serious fans of Sci Fi, this book is a good one. The author, Daniel Mahony was born in 1973 and this is his second contribution to the series, “Faction Paradox', as a novel. He has also written 'Doctor Who' novels and audios. The language is florid and varied, and invention abounds whenever reality pokes its nose in. Maybe good holiday reading I think. Certainly plenty happening; all full of menace - I quote (from the end of the book) William Blake: “Now I a fourfold vision see / And a fourfold vision is given to me / Tis fourfold in my supreme delight / and three fold in soft Belulah's night / And twofold Always. May God keep / from single vision and Newton's sleep” Nothing by halves there! Nor is the book, an entertaining read if ever I saw one!

Graffiti, poems by Peter Olds. Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, Paekakariki, New Zealand. 24 pages.
Another little collection from this most useful press. Old's work is very consistent, hones of long practise over the years and these are no exception - all work fine to me. Some have appeared in various magazines previously but unfortunately, there is no list of these. Not that it matters very much as all are fresh and exciting for the most part. In 'The Town's full of Mormons' the tinge of realism betrays the sort of naïve style Olds' introduces. Superb at observing, Olds' displays this craft in all of the other pieces. The title piece, Graffiti, shows great perception and can be taken a number of ways - not at all obscure. Olds does a lot of walking around Dunedin and sees things few others even take notice of. The results are poems which are not forced, as if searching for a subject and making something of it, but just come naturally. I can't give away too many surprises, but read 'Lone Seagull' for something completely different, but completely normal. We are eternally grateful for someone who can do this - that is, completely get out of his own way to observe and tell, so tellingly. Even 'Writer's Block' works just fine as a poem - all with a wry twist and lots of humour. Surety of touch, experience, maturity. Olds has it all here, as always.

JAAM. Magazine of literature, P. O. Box 25239, Panama Street, Wellington NZ. Annual.
This magazine is now an annual, this time edited by Tim Jones. Tim is a science fiction buff and asked for speculative work - many of the contributions being stories, or, as is described, 'interstitial fiction' or fiction that 'moves between one genre and another'. However you describe them they are good, interesting pieces, well worth your time reading. Jaam is published by the Jaam Collective in Wellington which should ensure its survival and consistency. Definitely one of the more prestigious literary magazines around these days. I liked the poetry a lot: Amy Brown's piece, 'The Teenagers' is realistic and finely observed. There's an appealing frankness about Emma Barnes' piece, 'is it not'. Some are not to convincing, like Anne Harre's 'On the Ledge above the Sink'. Looks strained. 'The Stations of the Bucket Man' - 12 short stanzas, appeals, finishing “Blessed are Wellington's homeless / for they shall inherit the earth / on Tinakori Hill”. Well observed. The stories here are not to be faulted. Tim Jones knows his stuff and chose well. Beginning middle and end, all well crafted and with surprises. Renee Liang's 'Voodoo' it's a bit chilling, what people do to each other, but ride with it. A story about an individual's transference to another culture is very poignant and meaningful. Such is Esther Deans' 'Breathing in Another Language' - well worth the read. Struggles with Buddhism and “Can't I replace it with Korea” asks Marcia, referring to New Zealand. Well, read it and see what happens… all's not well and ends badly for Marcia but you will have to find out about that yourself. Barry Southam cruises along in his poem, 'The Dairy Owner' - another victim immigrant, and 'Class of 55' the School Reunion; pithy and to the point; well assured stuff, this. David Gregory's 'Getting to Know You' lets us know what happens if you happen to look in the mirror. Beware. John O'Connor, an expert with the short pieces, really does well with the longer ones. Barbara Strang's poem is a strange piece about Dunedin, worth puzzling over I think. Jeanne Bernhardt's work is always consistent and polished. Her 'Wood” is no exception. Become a subscriber to Jaam and reap the value of this important magazine; unfortunately now an annual, but go for it.

Kokako 8 & 9. is published in Auckland, NZ. It comes out twice a year, April and September and contains Haiku, Haliban and related genres.
Edited by Patricia Prime (these two issues) April and September 2008. No.8 is also edited by Owen Bullock and contains an obituary to Bernard Gadd, former poet and editor/ He was a renowned teach who arose in the 1960's and 1970's as editor and published of “English in New Zealand' and one of his last tasks was editing 'Real Fire' and anthology of poets from the 60's and 70's, as a response to the late Alan Brunton's Auckland anthology, 'Big Smoke'. Bernie was also a left wing activist and environmentalist and together, we ran a web site for a couple of years, called 'Incite'. Bernie was always a joy to work with and we will all miss him very much. Kokako runs an international Haiku competition and April #8 has the results of its 4th competition. 324 haiku from 53 poets. The judge is Catherine Mair. Among the highly commended, and commended there are at least 9 NZ poets. I liked Bernard Gadd's haiku, “thud of the last window / in the beach house / summer's end”. There is a lot of argument about Haiku - that it is purely of nature; of Zen etc and that we shouldn't 'interpolate' human perception into what we see, although the form can only exist for humans to use! The winner was Sandra Simpson (NZ) with “Pausing also / at the sacred Matai … / a wood pigeon”. There are longer pieces too: I enjoyed those, reminded me of Rimbaud. There is an interesting variety of styles in this magazine, mostly all shorter, but very useful. There's a very useful index of poets at the end of this magazine; something rare. Issue No.9. is of similar work but no competition this time. Some nice haiku by mostly the same people. The quality varies in my opinion but mostly it is very good; very inventive. I liked “newly shaven legs / steam rises from / the wet asphalt” by Elliot Nicely. Nicely done, if you can excuse the pun! Something nicely erotic about it. Also “ice cream truck / the sway of / cone flowers” nice observation this. By the same poet. Also “dog days again - / the old beagle / chases his tail”, by Phillip Miller. There are lots of gems like this and most don't pay any homage to Zen. Here's another, though I could go on and on: “as I begin / to sing in my head / the sparrows scatter” by Kirsten Cliff. And the old master himself, John O'Connor: “on the river / ripples / of boatshed”. That's real perception. Nice. Women writers especially seem to do very well with this poetic form. Subscribe, it's the only way.

Broadsheet 1 & 2. A new poetry journal edited and published by Mark Pirie. Night Press, Wellington.
Mark Pirie is well known to us all, as founder of Jaam, now guest edited, and an annual. These issues are May and November. They are solicited poems - no unsolicited submissions are accepted. Consequently there are Pirie's old friends here. Nothing wrong with that, it is largely good work Some hardy old campaigners here: Stephen Oliver for one weighs in with a good piece: 'Marooned'. See for yourself. From 1951, we have Victor O'Leary with 'Briefly we Live' which looks a bit dated and romantic, but interesting to see that style. Described as 'new New Zealand Poetry” some of it is hardly that, but never mind, it is all interesting. Pirie's idea for the magazine arose from publication previously of single broadsheets. Not so popular with bookshops he said of those. Pirie is not adverse to publishing overseas poets in this magazine, either - in #1 there's Michael Duffett who visited NZ in the 1970's and talked with Glover, Vincent O'Sullivan, et al. Much of the work is very prosy but makes some good points/images. It just fits with Pirie's style, that's all. #2 is much the same but is in memory of the late Louis Johnson, long time poet, and editor and founder of 'Poetry New Zealand' now edited by Alistair Paterson in Auckland. Johnson was Pirie's study subject for his MA thesis at Otago University. Of particular interest to me is Neil Wright's poem, 'November Weather' in memory of Dennis List, who, (unknown to me) died in November 2007. I was very sad about that. I published List's first book of poems for Caveman Press, in 1971, called 'Pathways to the Brain' List wrote that famous poem about the great Wellington Gas Explosion; a classic. The pair, List and Wright, lived just down the road from each other in Wellington in the 70's. List moved to Australia and a successful writing career and Wright wrote his huge opus, 'The Alexandrians (in 120 books). The work to me is very stilted and lacks real inventiveness but some enjoy it, I hope you do. Alistair Paterson's poetry is as always, polished and expert. As is Vincent O'Sullivan's of course. Not much invention but very solid. Invest in the magazine, it's worth it.

This is the last issue of Southern Ocean Review. I would like to thank our many supporters, contributors, and subscribers and can assure you that the magazine will be on line for a little while yet. Many thanks.

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