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Bill Manhire

@pacificraft.bsky.social

1.8K followers 340 following 1K posts

Socially inept but likes to sing in front of strangers. Wow published by THWUP in NZ http://teherengawakapress.co.nz/wow/ & Carcanet https://www.carcanet.co.uk/9781800170049/wow/ in the UK. Toitū Te Tiriti!

teherengawakapress.co.nz

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Bill Manhire @pacificraft.bsky.social · Nov 28

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My Final Poem

Someone rides a bicycle through a cemetery,
then in and out of my poem.
Why would anyone do that?

I was expecting a dark horseman,
not a clown on a bicycle.

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Jennifer Saunders @magpiedays.bsky.social · 17h

The rare still fee-free submission opportunity, opening 1 November (@derekjgwilliams.bsky.social)

Nimrod Journal @nimrodjournal.bsky.social · 18h

Authors, start your engines!

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Maureen Thorson @maureenthorson.bsky.social · 8h

“You renounced the world so it wouldn’t leave first.” A poem by Richard Siken.

VOLTA

It was getting very late. I waited for a different ending. I held my breath. June, July. The following July. It didn't swerve. I expected it to swerve, that's the promise, the twist at the end, how it pulls against the way it drives, black ice in moonlight. Something happened and I turned toward you. Something happened and you turned away. You didn't turn back. Listen, this is important. I'm sorry I scared you but I didn't die. You don't get to stay mad about it. You were shitty and you doubled down and stayed down, investing in it. You renounced the world so it wouldn't leave first. It worked. If you can't set it down then fall on your knees and feel the weight of it. I was right about everything. If it's any consolation, I'll never forgive you. You're welcome. Let awe end. Just like that. Fair enough.

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Jolisa Gracewood @nzdodo.bsky.social · 9h

"The book that made me laugh: The Ice Shelf by Anne Kennedy. From the first page... it is a hoot. I especially love the way she skewers writing workshops and literary festivals."

Totally agree with @wendmyway.bsky.social – The Ice Shelf is an iconic, edgy, and oddly underrated instant classic.

‘You’ll laugh, you’ll cry…’: Wendy Parkins on the book everyone should read

Wendy Parkins, winner of best first book at the 2025 Ngaio Marsh Awards, recommends a must-read Victorian 'trauma novel'.

thespinoff.co.nz

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Andy Jackson @azjackson.bsky.social · 1d

If you’re near Stow in the Scottish Borders on Saturday then why not come along and see poets make a complete Trossachs of taking penalties. All in support of the magnificent Nil By Mouth organisation, challenging sectarianism in football.

www.nilbymouth.org/post/poets-p...

POETS PREPARE TO FACE PENALTIES

Poets from across Scotland will gather in the Borders this weekend to perform their prose amid the drama of a penalty shoot-out.The bards will perform at the ‘Poets and Penalties’ competition being he...

www.nilbymouth.org

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Matthew Francis @mfrancispoet.bsky.social · 1d

An old poem of mine that has been having a bit of a moment on Facebook.

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Ian Duhig @ianduhig.bsky.social · 1d

for World Mental Health Day from 'An Arbitrary Light Bulb', my most recent book of poetry

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IIML @modernletters.bsky.social · 1d

Mōrena

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IIML @modernletters.bsky.social · 2d

Ingrid Horrocks reading from her Mary Wollstonecraft story at a packed launch for All Her Lives tonight - books were flying out the door!

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Te Herenga Waka University Press @thwupbooks.bsky.social · 2d

Happy publication day to Ingrid Horrocks! All Her Lives is a collection of fiction celebrating women’s lives and their search for love and freedom. We are proud to publish this book today and look forward to celebrating its launch this evening at Unity Books Wellington 💚

The cover of all her lives is shown on a plain background. The cover is a painting by Sarak Wilkins of a young dark-haired woman in a white shirt and green tie. It says "All Her Lives. Nine Stories. Ingrid Horrocks.'

Three quotes from reviews are shown on a blue and green background:

‘I’ll be thinking about it for a long time – a book of quiet force.’
Emily Perkins

‘There’s a biographer’s awareness of defining moments or meetings, of motivation and revelation, of the social forces that shape behaviour. None of Horrocks’s characters exist in a vacuum.’
The Listener

‘The collection reads as a protest song book, calling through the ages for change, revolution and peace.’
Laura Jean McKay

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Elizabeth Kerr @elizabethxkerr.bsky.social · 2d

The bold and brilliant composer Victoria Kelly hit it out of the park with her new Stabat Mater for #NZSO - here's my review: www.fivelines.nz/articles/nzs...

NZSO’s Stabat Mater: Victoria Kelly’s profound and moving new work — Five Lines

The NZSO’s recent Stabat Mater concerts presented Rossini’s operatic setting of the text and the world premiere of a new Stabat Mater by Victoria Kelly.

www.fivelines.nz

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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 2d

What’s the word where you’re from that, when pronounced exactly as it looks, identifies a tourist immediately?

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Bill Manhire @pacificraft.bsky.social · 2d

They seem to be revving up the Poetry Machine
natlib.govt.nz/blog/posts/p...

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IIML @modernletters.bsky.social · 2d

Is that WAKE, Elizabeth Knox’s horror novel, on Jacinda’s bedside table during Covid? Almost yelled out in the theatre. Really good film anyway. PRIME MINISTER @elizabethknoxnz.bsky.social

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John Attridge @johnattridge.bsky.social · 2d

Instead of competing for limited resources, other humanities disciplines should accept that they are all essentially branches of literary criticism

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Te Herenga Waka University Press @thwupbooks.bsky.social · 3d

Join us tomorrow!

Te Herenga Waka University Press @thwupbooks.bsky.social · 29d

Join us to celebrate All Her Lives: Nine Stories by Ingrid Horrocks. The book will be launched by Emily Perkins.

🌿 Thursday 9 October, 6pm
🌿 Unity Books Wellington
🌿 Free event – all welcome!

Cover: Sarah Wilkins

www.facebook.com/share/19atXe...

The cover of the book shows a young woman in a white shirt, green tie and red skirt sitting down and looking thoughtful. Text around the cover says: 'Join us for the launch of All Her Lives. Thursday 9 October 6pm. Unity Books Wellington.' The logos of THWUP and Unity Books are in the corner.

A quote in red text on a green background: 'All Her Lives is a reckoning. A stunning tour de force of women’s lives across centuries, continents and political movements. The collection reads as a protest song book, calling through the ages for change, revolution and peace. Horrocks is one of the most powerful storytellers of our time and All Her Lives is the author's most triumphant work.’ Laura Jean McKay

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Sharon Murdoch @domesticanimal.bsky.social · 3d

The Govt wants to cut Health NZ staff working on alcohol harm & end its research & social marketing campaigns. Sixty five organisations have signed an open letter to the PM, calling for alcohol industry to be excluded from policy making.
My #cartoon today #NZpol #alcohol #Health #PublicHealth

Cartoon. Title: “Sponsored by the Alcohol Lobby”. Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and Assoc Justice Minister Nicole McKee, drinking together. McKee hands her beer to Doocey and says, “Hold my beer” “I’m going to sort out these Public Health boffins. Lower right it says, “Govt ignores expert advice on alcohol”

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Lesley Wheeler @lesleymwheeler.bsky.social · 3d

Poets, Shenandoah reading periods are coming up fast! The one for Virginia poets will stay open till 10/31, but Samyak’s great call for formal experiment will hit the cap fast (I’d guess 3 days). www.shenandoahliterary.org/submissions/

Two Shenandoah submission periods for poetry start 10/15

Editorial fellow Samyak Shertok is looking for poems using form, including modified, hybrid, and more

The Graybeal Gowan prize offer $1000 for a poem written by someone who has lived in VA at any point for 2+ years

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Clare Pollard @poetclare.bsky.social · 3d

This is really interesting. I do find readers increasingly want to be served up their morals and meanings. Ambiguity makes them uneasy - what if an author has problematic opinions, and they can’t tell? (not a left or right thing btw. it’s both).

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 3d

Movies now relentlessly signpost their meaning and intent. “Artists and audiences sometimes defend this legibility as democratic, a way to reach everyone,” Namwali Serpell writes. “It is, in fact, condescending.”

The New Literalism Plaguing Today’s Biggest Movies

Buzzy films from “Anora” to “The Substance” are undone by a relentless signposting of meaning and intent.

www.newyorker.com

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 4d

Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...

Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."

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Bill Manhire @pacificraft.bsky.social · 4d

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Bill Manhire @pacificraft.bsky.social · 4d

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The small god is still inventing himself

Last week scarlet & pale
then just a hint of blue

always changing
always a little overdue

yesterday he was apples
today mostly apples

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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 4d

A riddle for @theguardian.com books page.
p.s. My new book 'Physics for Cats' is out this week in bookshops and online. Details at www.tomgauld.com

Title: One door leads to freedom, the others to certain death. You may ask one question.

Image: Three guards with shields and speard stand in front of three doors. One guard sits at a folding table working at a typewriter, his shield and spear leaning against the wall.

Caption: One guard always tells the truth, one always tells lies, and the third always tells an entrancing story that blends reportage with imagination in an attempt to reach a deeper authenticity by moving beyond the narrow categories of fact and fiction.

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John Attridge @johnattridge.bsky.social · 4d

Literary prizes are a cheap distraction from the true purpose of reading great books, which is making people who haven't read them feel bad about themselves

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Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 4d

This newspaper hoarding – hung by Tom Leonard here on his bookcase – was described by the author as

“the only ‘trophy’ I ever got for my poetry that continues to give me some pleasure, when I remember it.”

#BannedBooksWeek
3/3
www.tomleonard.co.uk/journal/blog...

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phillip crymble @phillipcrymble.bsky.social · 4d

A Louise Glück miniature that appeared in The Threepenny Review in 2023. To my knowledge, it remains uncollected.

Passion and Form

Ah, they have kissed!
The rhyme
Comes in unnoticed.

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