Bill Manhire
@pacificraft.bsky.social
Socially inept but likes to sing in front of strangers. Wow published by THWUP in NZ http://teherengawakapress.co.nz/wow/ & Carcanet https://www.carcanet.co.uk/9781800170049/wow/ in the UK.
Toitū Te Tiriti!
Toitū Te Tiriti!
Pinned
Bill Manhire
@pacificraft.bsky.social
· Nov 28
.
My Final Poem
Someone rides a bicycle through a cemetery,
then in and out of my poem.
Why would anyone do that?
I was expecting a dark horseman,
not a clown on a bicycle.
.
Reposted by Bill Manhire
Reposted by Bill Manhire
Kia ora! I've unleashed my fave NZ book covers of 2025. My top pick is Sick Power Trip by @erikkennedy.com
Published by @thwupbooks.bsky.social
Designed by @toddatticus.bsky.social
Todd talks about the making of the cover: my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/blogs/post/b... ^DR
#booksky #pukapuka
Published by @thwupbooks.bsky.social
Designed by @toddatticus.bsky.social
Todd talks about the making of the cover: my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/blogs/post/b... ^DR
#booksky #pukapuka
November 28, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Kia ora! I've unleashed my fave NZ book covers of 2025. My top pick is Sick Power Trip by @erikkennedy.com
Published by @thwupbooks.bsky.social
Designed by @toddatticus.bsky.social
Todd talks about the making of the cover: my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/blogs/post/b... ^DR
#booksky #pukapuka
Published by @thwupbooks.bsky.social
Designed by @toddatticus.bsky.social
Todd talks about the making of the cover: my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/blogs/post/b... ^DR
#booksky #pukapuka
Reposted by Bill Manhire
Only a couple days left to apply!
Kick off 2026 with a short fiction fix 😎
Kick off 2026 with a short fiction fix 😎
Want to explore the art of short story writing in a series of supportive workshops with me?
Apply for CREW 254 Tri 1 intake by 1 Dec @modernletters.bsky.social ✍️
Students consistently rate the course excellent. Or to quote from a recent thank you card: "BEST EVER."
www.wgtn.ac.nz/modernletter...
Apply for CREW 254 Tri 1 intake by 1 Dec @modernletters.bsky.social ✍️
Students consistently rate the course excellent. Or to quote from a recent thank you card: "BEST EVER."
www.wgtn.ac.nz/modernletter...
How and when to apply | Te Pūtahi Tuhi Auaha o Te Ao / International Institute of Modern Letters | Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
Information for domestic undergraduate students applying for limited entry Creative Writing courses at Victoria University of Wellington.
www.wgtn.ac.nz
November 28, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Only a couple days left to apply!
Kick off 2026 with a short fiction fix 😎
Kick off 2026 with a short fiction fix 😎
Reposted by Bill Manhire
The NZ Lyrical Ballads cover has a sibling. Here is the UK cover for Bill Manhire’s new collection, publishing in March by Carcanet (Feb in NZ by Te Herenga Waka!)
This cover features an 18th century mezzotint plate by Thomas Wright from his An Original Theory or New Hypothesis of the Universe.
This cover features an 18th century mezzotint plate by Thomas Wright from his An Original Theory or New Hypothesis of the Universe.
November 27, 2025 at 8:45 PM
The NZ Lyrical Ballads cover has a sibling. Here is the UK cover for Bill Manhire’s new collection, publishing in March by Carcanet (Feb in NZ by Te Herenga Waka!)
This cover features an 18th century mezzotint plate by Thomas Wright from his An Original Theory or New Hypothesis of the Universe.
This cover features an 18th century mezzotint plate by Thomas Wright from his An Original Theory or New Hypothesis of the Universe.
Reposted by Bill Manhire
A cold lazy afternoon of mostly aimless and desultory reading brings me somehow to Tom Clark’s early book Stones (1969), and a quiet poem one used to recite late in bars (along with, louder, with ready irony, John Berryman’s “Dream Song 14“ (“Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so. . . .”)):
November 27, 2025 at 8:28 PM
A cold lazy afternoon of mostly aimless and desultory reading brings me somehow to Tom Clark’s early book Stones (1969), and a quiet poem one used to recite late in bars (along with, louder, with ready irony, John Berryman’s “Dream Song 14“ (“Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so. . . .”)):
Reposted by Bill Manhire
So on the bus through late November running
by yellow lights tormented, darkness falling,
the two girls sang for miles and miles together…
—Iain Crichton Smith, “Two Girls Singing”
published in DEER ON THE HIGH HILLS, @carcanet.bsky.social 2021
#poem #poetry
www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/inde...
by yellow lights tormented, darkness falling,
the two girls sang for miles and miles together…
—Iain Crichton Smith, “Two Girls Singing”
published in DEER ON THE HIGH HILLS, @carcanet.bsky.social 2021
#poem #poetry
www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/inde...
November 27, 2025 at 3:30 PM
So on the bus through late November running
by yellow lights tormented, darkness falling,
the two girls sang for miles and miles together…
—Iain Crichton Smith, “Two Girls Singing”
published in DEER ON THE HIGH HILLS, @carcanet.bsky.social 2021
#poem #poetry
www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/inde...
by yellow lights tormented, darkness falling,
the two girls sang for miles and miles together…
—Iain Crichton Smith, “Two Girls Singing”
published in DEER ON THE HIGH HILLS, @carcanet.bsky.social 2021
#poem #poetry
www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/inde...
Reposted by Bill Manhire
On 12 February next year, ahead of the 2026 NZ General Election, we will be releasing another book by the prolific Sir Geoffrey Palmer, following his bestselling 2025 title How to Save Democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand.
teherengawakapress.co.nz/products/par...
teherengawakapress.co.nz/products/par...
November 27, 2025 at 4:30 AM
On 12 February next year, ahead of the 2026 NZ General Election, we will be releasing another book by the prolific Sir Geoffrey Palmer, following his bestselling 2025 title How to Save Democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand.
teherengawakapress.co.nz/products/par...
teherengawakapress.co.nz/products/par...
Reposted by Bill Manhire
“The old Irishman taking his pig to market.”
One of several novel banana-based creations found in “Quaint Dessert Dishes”, an article from a 1911 issue of American Homes and Gardens: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/quaint-desserts/ #thanksgiving
One of several novel banana-based creations found in “Quaint Dessert Dishes”, an article from a 1911 issue of American Homes and Gardens: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/quaint-desserts/ #thanksgiving
November 26, 2025 at 8:46 PM
“The old Irishman taking his pig to market.”
One of several novel banana-based creations found in “Quaint Dessert Dishes”, an article from a 1911 issue of American Homes and Gardens: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/quaint-desserts/ #thanksgiving
One of several novel banana-based creations found in “Quaint Dessert Dishes”, an article from a 1911 issue of American Homes and Gardens: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/quaint-desserts/ #thanksgiving
Reposted by Bill Manhire
A special event tonight, and a special new Poet Laureate nzpoetryshelf.com/2025/11/27/p...
Poetry Shelf celebrates Aotearoa’s new Poet Laureate: Robert Sullivan
This evening, on 27 November, the National Library is celebrating 60 years of the Library with a ‘Laureates line up’ — a rare gathering of nearly all living New Zealand Poets Laureate. …
nzpoetryshelf.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:44 PM
A special event tonight, and a special new Poet Laureate nzpoetryshelf.com/2025/11/27/p...
Reposted by Bill Manhire
A lovely (and funny) anecdote out of Ronald Johnson’s 1976 Vort interview, conducted by Barry Alpert (reprinted in _Ronald Johnson: Life and Works_ (National Poetry Foundation, 2008)). I would love to read a collection of the letters exchanged between Ian Hamilton Finlay and Johnson.
November 26, 2025 at 1:53 PM
A lovely (and funny) anecdote out of Ronald Johnson’s 1976 Vort interview, conducted by Barry Alpert (reprinted in _Ronald Johnson: Life and Works_ (National Poetry Foundation, 2008)). I would love to read a collection of the letters exchanged between Ian Hamilton Finlay and Johnson.
Reposted by Bill Manhire
Read what Carcanet's Managing Director, Michael Schmidt had to say about 'ChatGPT and the modern poet' in a recent article published in BookBrunch:
www.bookbrunch.co.uk/page/free-ar...
www.bookbrunch.co.uk/page/free-ar...
ChatGPT and the modern poet
BookBrunch - The publishing trade's daily news magazine
www.bookbrunch.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Read what Carcanet's Managing Director, Michael Schmidt had to say about 'ChatGPT and the modern poet' in a recent article published in BookBrunch:
www.bookbrunch.co.uk/page/free-ar...
www.bookbrunch.co.uk/page/free-ar...
Reposted by Bill Manhire
Reposted by Bill Manhire
Delighted to announce that fiction writer (and member of award-winning arts collective Mataaho) Terri Te Tau (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne ki Wairarapa) will be our Te Herenga Waka—VUW / Creative New Zealand Emerging Māori Writer in Residence for 2026! www.wgtn.ac.nz/modernletter...
Terri Te Tau named as 2026 Emerging Māori Writer in Residence | Te Pūtahi Tuhi Auaha o Te Ao / International Institute of Modern Letters | Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
Fiction writer and artist Terri Te Tau (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne ki Wairarapa) has been appointed as the Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington International Institute of Modern Letters (...
www.wgtn.ac.nz
November 26, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Delighted to announce that fiction writer (and member of award-winning arts collective Mataaho) Terri Te Tau (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne ki Wairarapa) will be our Te Herenga Waka—VUW / Creative New Zealand Emerging Māori Writer in Residence for 2026! www.wgtn.ac.nz/modernletter...
Reposted by Bill Manhire
The @scottpolar.bsky.social are looking for a librarian. This is a rare opportunity! Work with (probably) the world's largest dedicated polar library alongside archive and museum colleagues. The dream 😍
📜
📜
Librarian
The Library of the Scott Polar Research Institute is one of the most comprehensive collections of published polar information in the world. This highly specialist reference collection, which attracts
www.cam.ac.uk
November 25, 2025 at 8:45 PM
The @scottpolar.bsky.social are looking for a librarian. This is a rare opportunity! Work with (probably) the world's largest dedicated polar library alongside archive and museum colleagues. The dream 😍
📜
📜
Reposted by Bill Manhire
There is a milk tanker in Southland done up like a cheese roll. For real
November 25, 2025 at 9:39 AM
There is a milk tanker in Southland done up like a cheese roll. For real
Reposted by Bill Manhire
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Reposted by Bill Manhire
Happy Birthday to the legendary Billy Connolly who turns 83 today, and who from a young age realised the importance of #Libraries.
'When I was an unhappy little boy, going to the library changed my life. It may even have saved it.'
Happy Birthday Big Yin. 🎉🎂🌟❤️
'When I was an unhappy little boy, going to the library changed my life. It may even have saved it.'
Happy Birthday Big Yin. 🎉🎂🌟❤️
November 24, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Happy Birthday to the legendary Billy Connolly who turns 83 today, and who from a young age realised the importance of #Libraries.
'When I was an unhappy little boy, going to the library changed my life. It may even have saved it.'
Happy Birthday Big Yin. 🎉🎂🌟❤️
'When I was an unhappy little boy, going to the library changed my life. It may even have saved it.'
Happy Birthday Big Yin. 🎉🎂🌟❤️
Reposted by Bill Manhire
Now for some sports news...
(this week's cartoon for @theguardian.com books pages)
(this week's cartoon for @theguardian.com books pages)
November 24, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Now for some sports news...
(this week's cartoon for @theguardian.com books pages)
(this week's cartoon for @theguardian.com books pages)
Reposted by Bill Manhire
“I’m not a serious thinker. I’m a writer: that’s very different. I think a writer’s intelligence has to be alive, has to be incomplete. It has to carry contradiction. It has to be sort of haphazard and amateur.”
- Benjamín Labatut
- Benjamín Labatut
November 23, 2025 at 10:02 PM
“I’m not a serious thinker. I’m a writer: that’s very different. I think a writer’s intelligence has to be alive, has to be incomplete. It has to carry contradiction. It has to be sort of haphazard and amateur.”
- Benjamín Labatut
- Benjamín Labatut
Reposted by Bill Manhire
Derek Mahon, born on this day in 1941
November 23, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Derek Mahon, born on this day in 1941