Poet's N.Z. tour starts in a bar

Press, 27 November 1979, Page 3

Poet's N.Z. tour starts in a bar

Beer forgotten, the bar hushed as Gary McCormack captured drinkers’ attention in the United Service Hotel last evening with verses from James K. Baxter's "Lament for Barnev Flanagan." People in the audience joined in with poems they had written, and a short poetry-reading session began. Gary McCormack, a poet for eight years, has begun a tour of New Zealand to entertain with created and borrowed verses.. He originally lived at Porirua, but has recently' settled in Gisborne. The tour is funded by the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council and has been organised bv the Robert McDougall Art Gallery. However, Mr McCormack prefers to perform in hotels and public places rather than academic institutions. “I w’ould rather read poetry in a pub because so many people come together for a good time,” he said. “There are many closet poets in this countrv. We probably get more followers of poetry in relation to the size of the population than any other country. What I am doing is a valuable public service, because a lot of people write poetry and when they see me, they come out into the open.” The view that New Zealand was culturally impoverished was not correct, Mr McCormack said. Recently on a three-week trip to Sydney, he had found no public readers of poetry, but the people had really enjoyed his poetry.

Why does Gary McCormack’write poetry? “I tried a few other things and they failed,” he said. “1 have a high energy level and writing poetry satisfies me, and to be able to read my poetry is exhilarating. But to be a good poet you have to have a strong awareness of the world around you.” He is also promoting his recently published book, “Performance, a Performing Artists’ Guide to Staying Alive in New Zealand.” The book among other things contains advice on how to treat audiences, how not to get killed in a bar, and how to dodge officious officials.