About

Christchurch poet, editor, critic, and winner of the open and haiku sections of the 2006 New Zealand Poetry Society International Poetry Competition, John O'Connor is arguably one of New Zealand's finest contemporary poets. Acknowledged internationally for his work in haiku, senryu and related forms, his haiku have been anthologised and published in eight languages. With this selection, drawn from the best of his published and unpublished work, the specificity of voice and images demonstrate O'Connor's stature as haiku master with a particular antipodean sense of season and place. For those who seek to push the boundaries of the craft or to return to the origins of the written form in symbols and hieroglyphs, O'Connor’s brief and concluding essay, "Technology and Verse", discusses the application of graphic words (computer graphics) in haiku, as evidenced in some of the haiku herein. And for those who know and appreciate the 'haiku moment', the insights and apprehensions will linger long after the book is closed.

Proudly published by Post Pressed

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Reviews

"His haiku … are strikingly effective."

FIONA KIDMAN, NZ Listener

"... New Zealand's pioneering haiku poets, including Ruth Dallas, Rupert Glover, Howard Dengate and John O'Connor."

WALLY SWIST, Modern Haiku (US)

"At its best haiku can be hauntingly evocative as in John O'Connor's attic dust / finding my mother's / footsteps."

JAMES NORCLIFFE, Christchurch Star

"This also has a lightness to it that belies its depth: attic dust…"

CHARLOTTE WRIGHTSON, Manawa (NZ)

"... haiku, a form of which he is a master."

TOM WESTON, The Press (NZ)

"As always, O'Connor's haiku say the most with the least."

PAUL MILLAR, Kite (NZ)

"There can be no doubt that O'Connor is one of the best New Zealand practitioners – arguably the best."

KATE O'NEILL, JAAM (NZ)

"There's a fine collection of haiku and senryu too; indeed O'Connor is acknowledged internationally for his work in these and related forms."

JOHN KNIGHT, Social Alternatives (Aust)

"Christchurch poets have for many years taken a serious interest in haiku and related forms. None has taken a more sustained interest, nor produced more poems of consistently high standard, than John O'Connor. His poems have been widely published in New Zealand and overseas and … he has done much to foster interest and quality in these forms."

CYRIL CHILDS, Listening to the Rain (NZ)

"The haiku/tanka scene in New Zealand owes a lot of its character to him."

TONY BEYER, Takahe (NZ)

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Extract

mountain-side —
the train climbs its own
sound

light rain —
the cat brings in
the scent of blue gums

wedding ring worn thin
she kneads dough
in autumn sunlight

quatrain on a gravestone
the last rhyme
mossed out

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