Creative
writing senior lecturer Dr Bryan Walpert has just had a poem – featuring
Manawatü’s iconic wind turbines as its central metaphor –
accepted for the shortlist of the C$20,000 Montreal International Poetry Prize.
Last week
the US-born and educated poet heard his poem “Aubade” had made the longlist of 80
poems from writers in 13 countries. The poems were selected from 2000 entries
in 70 countries by the 2013 Montreal International Poetry Prize Editorial Board
– an international jury of ten eminent poets.
He is the
only New Zealand-based poet to have made either list. The shortlist comprises 50 poems and was
announce last night, with the winner to be announced on September 23.
His poem is
set in the Manawatü and invokes the presence, sound and movement of the
windmills as a backdrop to his central subject, a relationship. It’s the second
time he has had a poem in the Longlist; the first was in 2011 for the inaugural
Montreal Poetry Prize, held every two years.
Dr
Walpert, who teaches at the School of English and Media Studies, says it’s an honour
to be chosen for a truly global award. “The Montreal competition has an
explicit mission of global outreach for the best poetry written in English from
anywhere in the world.”
The
competition has a sliding scale of entry fees to ensure economic disparities
between nations don’t pose a deterrent to entry.
The title
of his poem (one of three he submitted) refers to a dawn poem, traditionally
about lovers parting at dawn, and features in his recently completed
manuscript, Native Bird, for which he
is seeking a publisher.
“It’s my
first truly New Zealand-focused poetry collection, and part of its interest
lies with the experience of immigrating here from the United States, with
setting down roots and raising a family in a new culture.”
New
Zealand birds feature frequently as objects of meditation and sources of
metaphor, though not in this particular poem “Aubade”. Some of the poems have
been published individually here or abroad.
The
Montreal International Poetry Prize website says it aims to encourage “the
creation of original works of poetry, to building cross-national readership and
to exploring the world’s Englishes.”
The
shortlisted collection will be published in hard copy in November.
Footnote:
Bryan is a NZ citizen (dual with U.S.).
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