Tuesday Poem

Tuesday Poem: 'Underground' by Jac Jenkins

This week, the Tuesday Poem blog features the winning poem from the 2013 Takahē poetry competition. We're pleased to see Jac Jenkins' poem 'Underground' on the TP site, and we're certain readers will see why it won top honours in last year's competition. 

It's a powerful poem that Jenkins dedicates to Christine de Pizan --  Italian/French poet, writer and keen observer of court life, history and gender from the early modern period. I recall teaching de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies to first year university students when I taught European history, and I was so pleased when I read Jenkins' poem -- seeing how a 21st century poet from Northland compacts into a beautifully constructed set of verses such strong images of seasons and change. It's a textured poem that will stick with you.

Tuesday Poem is a New Zealand initiative founded by Wellington writer and publisher Mary McCallum and Dunedin artist and writer Claire Beynon. The Tuesday Poem collective is a group of 30 poets from around the English-speaking world who 'gather' weekly to share and celebrate poetry -- by themselves and poets they admire.

Footnote:

The Sarah Broom Poetry Prize,  closes March 14.