Poetry readings appeal

Press, 6 April 1981, Page 6

Poetry readings appeal

"Poetry Now.” Poems read by Michael Morris* sey, . Graham Billing, Michael Harlow, ■' Rod Jackaman, ; and Charles Bisley. -The Conference. Roohi, The Town Hall. Reviewed by Gerrit Bahlman, Poetry-'readings may ribt happen Very ; bf ten but they do have appeal, is an audU ence- of; ; 120 showed .in a comfortably crowded gathering on Friday evening. The readings were organised by Michael Morrissey to help promote the books of poems published by the readers. . : Each'. reader provided a distinctly different, flavour to. the proceedings, '.Yet their, varietyof persona! style of presentation and poems amalgamated into a successful .cascade of ..imagery someHnles-incomprehensible. hut always demanding attention. The poetry ranged from strongly- narrative through prose;-' to - surrealism. Some were black; - depressing, ”' ant dank,'. — other.l ight,s topical, suburban, .arid funny. ?' . Each poet read-two,-set/ of/pdems.fMichaellfMpffissej; begalfthe evening.- after con’ gratulatihg.: the", audience oi its superb cultural navigation, by reading five short

poems. They were characterised by a witty-, colloquial perspective designed to evoke humour. His later set was more serious, / incomprehensible, but .. still reliant on the deliberate . use of the . everyday phrase. His final poem,.‘'She’s .pot ‘.. the child of Sylvia Plath,” -.ended • his work, on a very secure note. ./ ■ Charles Bisley, tentjous poet present, coped extremely well with the challenge given him frbm the audience. He was interrupted with a question asking him to ■■ explain to the audience how poems were to ' be received. His response: that his poems were not! directed "to make sense to your,’.Conscious mind”., .His 'images were scattered, emphasised by deliberate false pauses; his poems were lacking in conventional direction and 'theme- Tbe use of inflection an pause created anxieties as ’ meaning appeared to slip 'way. The < resultvyfts a Series of associations- rather •han a coherent narration. -'-Rob Jacaman’s -. poems were interesting id the‘ cork irasts they offered. ; -In the nain, wry, never cynical observation, tinged with

sympathetic humour about the common everyday suburban lifestyle. His “Riccartbn Suite” of poems invites both humour and thought and his “Ceremony Taranaki” with its spaces that- “comments plunge through” gave the audience a taste of his 'ability to catch New Zealand attitudes.

• Michael Harlow presented the audience with poems designed to. enrich the mind rather than the heart, He was careful to hold his audiences understanding and was very effective in his us'e of delivery to achieve poetic effects. His subjects ranged from • the i humorous “Parsop’s. Sermop” to. the darker, terror-punctuated “The Witness Chair”. .

Graham Billing, author of five novels and admitting a current commitment to prose, gave the audience a moving texture of narrative, autobiographical, and • historical poetry that was enlivened . ,<by . ah emotional undercurrent both sensitive and sincere. His subject matter ranged from World War I to colonial farming. They were quietly‘presented yet managed to create sympathetic. sensual, and emotively powerful images.