All Together Now (2001)

Jack Ross, ed.: Spin 39 (March 2001)

All Together Now: A Celebration of New Zealand Culture by 100 Poets, ed. Tony Chad (PO Box 48002, Silverstream, Upper Hutt: Valley Micropress, 2000). ISBN 0-473-07325-0. 108 pp. RRP $22.50

Tony Chad, ed.: All Together Now (2000)

Yes, I admit it. I’m in this one. But then, so is just about everyone else with any Spin connections, so most of you probably know about it already. It’s a handsome book, just as Valley Micropress has always been the most immediately aesthetically appealing of the Micropress stable, and the sheer extent and variety of the poets included pays tribute to the immense hard work Tony Chad has put in (and continues to put in) to that magazine. All of which makes it somewhat difficult to find an objective (or even semi-objective) reviewer. I’ll content myself with saying, then, that this is a very ably-edited showcase of the kind of “I”-based autobiographical poem which Micropress specialises in. It therefore has an excellent chance of appealing to so-called “general” readers, even those impatient of Poetry with a capital “P.”

(3-4/3/2001)

Spin 39 (2001): 64.

[169 wds]

Spin 39 (2001)


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