the red room

My grandmother broke her femur a few weeks ago during a fall. She turns ninety at the end of October so she is at an age where everything becomes brittle. Her mind though is still very sharp. Tomorrow I leave for England where I will spend two weeks—at this stage most of it in the [...]

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Winter has settled into Wellington. I am still walking into town most mornings but I often resemble an eskimo and I’m sometimes stiff and cold by the time I arrive. I’ve been working from the central library with its high ceilings and glass walls (and easy access to oh-s0-trashy magazines). It is an open and [...]

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Last week I went to my Aunt’s funeral in Dunedin. My sister and I flew down in the morning, met my parents and then stopped by my Grandma’s grave to say “hello” before going on to the funeral parlour. To the left is a picture of my sister standing by my Gran’s grave that she [...]

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This piece of street art was photographed in Newtown on 27 March, 2010.
I most enjoy writing when I can write about a topic I am mildly obsessed about from lots of different angles, even if it seems a little strange or nonsensical at the time. As a tutor of mine used to say, “if you [...]

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Each morning I walk about three kilometers to and from university which gives my brain enough time to wake up or wind down. Last night while walking the dusty paths over Mt Vic I thought about how my experience of writing has changed. Reading another poet’s collected works can give insight into the way a voice [...]

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What I found really interesting about this graffiti is the image of the gun, in a different circumstance, can be quite threatening. I found it on the side of a garage near Vic University. It looks tiny and floating: almost like someone was standing there waiting for a bus and thinking about guns and their [...]

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Three weeks into the PhD so it’s time to write a blog. I have decided to work on my research and creative work simultaneously. Some of my friends who are also doing creative phids are finishing their research before beginning the creative work. But I need to stagger my creative writing with research. I have found [...]

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I have started to assemble a reading list for my first month of study. I think it is good idea that I formulate a plan today so I don’t turn up to my office on Monday and go “uhh…duh…mergh” while staring blankly at the walls. At the moment I am focusing on: a) ecocriticism and [...]

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I saw this as I walked into town from University this morning. Wellington is a pretty cool town for graffiti and I like it as an art form more than I like gallery art, possibly because it feels spontaneous a lot of the time. I thought this piece used the space well and becomes quite [...]

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