It's been a while, but here I am at last. Some time ago I wrote a post listing some of my favourite books. I badly need to update it and will do so before too long. But today, given it is National Poetry Day here in NZ, I want to talk poetry. I love reading poetry…
A Gift from France
Our family has expanded this week. We have welcomed 16-yr-old Joséphine, an AFS exchange student. She is from Dijon and has come to live in New Zealand for just two months. She'll go to school here and hopefully get a taste of the Kiwi lifestyle. She has fitted right in and it feels like she…
Selling Beauty to Babies
My six-year-old daughter was invited to a party this weekend. The little birthday girl is a delight and I would have loved Miss B. to attend. After checking out the venue online, however, my partner and I decided we had to decline the invitation.Club Girly Girlz hosts parties for young girls centred around getting made up,…
Crossing Over
Just for fun: I've written the same story, first in under 150 words, and then in under 300 words. I've entered both in different Flash Fiction competitions. Which do you think is best? Why? Crossing Over (150 words) We spear through the pre-dawn. As we shoot down the last hill before the pier, all wheels…
A Short Short Story
As I have previously pointed out, I love writing short fiction. Perhaps still high on my success in the 2013 Reader's Digest 100-word story competition (I came runner-up), I've just entered the BNZ (Bank of New Zealand) Literary Awards, in the Short Short Story category (150 words). As long as your story is deemed eligible, it's published…
Brightness
It is Miss B's birthday today. I wrote her a poem not long ago (see "My daughter's bedside, 3am." Today, however, I bow to the superior talent of New Zealand poet Denis Glover (Dec 1912 - Aug 1980). For you, my darling daughter. Happy Birthday. Brightness I am bright with the wonder of you And the…
Write true, write cheap
Consider the following sentence: The green grass was full of doctors, all dressed in their dazzlingly white surgical coats. Now consider Sylvia Plath's version: The Lawn was white with doctors. (from The Bell Jar) I don't think you'll even have to think about it when I ask: Which is the better sentence? But what about…
A Festival-Goer Field Guide
The Auckland Writers and Readers Festival kicks off tomorrow. I have spent the equivalent of a small Third World country's debt buying tickets to the various workshops, author talks and seminars on offer. I can't wait. They're a funny lot, W & R Festival-Goers. It's worth the admission price just to sit outside the various…
The Gift of Poetry
I love getting presents, especially when they are precisely what I want at that moment in time. But if I could only get one more present for the rest of my life, it would be this: a poem written exclusively for me, by one of the poets I truly love. I would want to meet…
Resolutions
Welcome to one of my favourite places in the world. I'm not going to tell you exactly where it is, because not many people have discovered it for the treasure that it is, and as a result it is still a relatively peaceful backwater. Most people head to the nearby holiday town (two words that strike…
Patricia Bell, Author 