NZ Post Book Award for Poetry 2012: Rhian Gallagher and “Shift”
On Wednesday, I was absolutely delighted to learn that my friend and fellow poet Rhian Gallagher had won the NZ Post Book Award for Poetry 2012 for her collection Shift, published in 2011 by Auckland University Press.
You can read the official announcement for all the winners on the BooksellersNZ site, here:
And here’s what the citation said:
“The poems offer elegance, mysteriousness, musical harmonies, satisfying quietness and subtle emotions. Sounds and themes stitch the collection with an assured and unifying touch. You fall upon little autobiographical traces in the shadows, traces that are both moving and intense.”
Way to go Rhian!
For more re Shift, Rhian, and her work, check out the following links on my blog:
- Tuesday Poem: “Windowpane” by Rhian Gallagher, October 24 2011
- Tuesday Poem: “Between” by Rhian Gallagher, June 29, 2010
- “Feeling for Daylight: The Photographs of Jack Adamson” (by Rhian Gallagher). July 10, 2010
In addition, I featured Rhian and Shift when I was guest editor for the Tuesday Poem Hub on August 23 last year. You can read the poem Butterfly, here.
Hub editor, Andrew Bell, also featured a poem from each of the three NZ Post Book Award poetry finalists, including Rhian, as the Tuesday Poem feature for National Poetry Week, here.
Beautiful poetry and a wonderful cover – the moment I saw the cover I thought, that has to be a poetry collection! Thanks Helen, looking forward to this one
Ashley, I am biased, of course, because Rhian is a friend as well as a fellow poet, but I do admire her work immensely and I think that the NZ Book Award win suggests that this may be more than ‘partiality’ on my part. 😉 Suffice it to say that “Shift” is a poetry collection that well repays a look.