Turbine 2011 full of literary gems

This year’s edition of the online literary journal Turbine features an eclectic mix of new writing by New Zealand literary talent.

Turbine is published once a year by Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) and can be viewed online at www.victoria.ac.nz/turbine.

Guest edited by IIML Master’s students Hera Bradburn and Christopher Howe, this year’s Turbine showcases work by established and emerging writers.

“There’s an exciting mix of poetry and fiction, as well as revealing extracts from the reading journals of a number of this year’s MA students,” says IIML Senior Lecturer Damien Wilkins.

The feature interview is with current Victoria University Writer in Residence, playwright Albert Belz, who opens up on writing for Shortland Street, the legacy of Billy T James and taking feedback from actors.

Many of this year’s IIML Master’s students have work on display, including poetry from Adam Foundation Prize winner, Hera Bradburn, and an excerpt from the reading journal of the Biggs Poetry Prize winner, Rachel Sawaya.

Among the fiction contributors, prize-winning poet Airini Beautrais publishes her first short story—a comic tale about the terrors of teaching; and Wellington-based Indian novelist Rajorshi Chakraborti is published for the first time in New Zealand.

Wilkins says the journal is a vivid witness to the range and vitality of current writing in New Zealand.

“It’s a great place to sample voices and to scramble any notion that there’s a dominant way of writing. I can’t see a pattern, just a lot of strong work.”