Palmerston North poet Tim Upperton with his new poetry collection. "The horse tried the door handle, its large eye pressed to the keyhole." Photo / Judith Lacy
Palmerston North poet Tim Upperton with his new poetry collection. "The horse tried the door handle, its large eye pressed to the keyhole." Photo / Judith Lacy
When Tim Upperton was a boy he had a green monkey soap. He didn't use it to bathe though, deeming it far too precious to disappear bit by bit. Instead, he took it to bed with him like a teddy bear.
These memories have inspired one of the poems in his third book of poetry, A Riderless Horse.
Published by Auckland University Press, the collection of 32 poems of varying length will be launched in Palmerston North on Friday night. And, yes, it includes The Truth About Palmerston North, Upperton's poem in which Palmy compares favourably with Paris and which Sir Sam Neill gave a new audience to when he posted a video of him reading it last year.
There is also Kingdom of Suck Balls Mountain, inspired by TV show Barry's famous line.
Sometimes Upperton's inspiration comes at inconvenient moments; he will wake up in the middle of the night with an image or phrase in his head.
Upperton says his latest collection is much more reflective and contemplative. The Night We Ate the Baby, published in 2014, had more angry and unpleasant poems.
The "I" in his poems is not him, and they are not confessional in that way, but a lot of him is there. Some poems have an essence of fact to them, in that things really did happen.
He is grateful for the $7500 grant from the Earle Creativity and Development Trust, which allowed him to write more poems and go over the whole manuscript. Some poems were eliminated and some changed; Upperton thinks they are the better for it.
He says the Earle money was a lifesaver, as no money means no time to write.
He makes a living from freelance writing and reviewing, teaching creative writing, and gardening. Gardening makes him happy and complements his reading and writing mahi, plus the indoors-sedentary/outdoors-physical contrast is good for his mental health.
Upperton has written a lot for the School Journal, and has enough for a book of children's poems.
He grew up in Waipukurau, as the fourth of eight children. He was born in the maternity annexe over the fence from his home.
Upperton remembers writing one or two poems when he was quite little. By the seventh form he was thinking he would like to be a writer but, in reality, he liked the idea of being a writer without the writing. The lifestyle appealed.
Tim Upperton recommends people read the novel Mr Weston's Good Wine, By TF Powys. Photo / Supplied
He always thought he would write fiction, but the first thing he had published, when he was in his 30s, was a poem, so he thought maybe he would do those. This was in the days of letters, and he can recall going to the mailbox to find the acceptance letter from literary magazine Sport and being so happy. The euphoria was short-lived though, as he continued to send more poems but they were not accepted.
His son, Oscar Upperton, will read some of his work at the launch tomorrow. Oscar has been published by Victoria University Press.
Some of the poems in A Riderless Horse came from writing workshops with Oscar, Katrina and Tess. Upperton doesn't take any credit for their success, but says they were brought up in a household where poetry was taken seriously and books were all around them.
His fourth child Ben is studying mathematics.
The Night We Ate the Baby was an Ockham New Zealand Book Awards finalist in 2016. Upperton won the Caselberg International Poetry Competition in 2012, 2013 and 2020.
He completed a PhD from Massey University in 2019 with his research looking at the lyric "I" and the anti-confessionalism of American poet Frederick Seidel.
Nobody knows By Tim Upperton
Many things make me sad these days, the days make me sad, how they fade into night so soon, how today becomes yesterday, and then last year, then seven years ago when my mother died. She never minded the passing of time, getting old. Such a beauty she was. Divorcing at seventy was a surprise. She used to sing, sometimes, in a high voice, 'Nobody knows - the troubles I've seen,' and towards the end she'd sing, 'Nobody knows . . .' and then trail away, and we knew and didn't know.
This poem was inspired by his late mother, Ruth.
• A Riderless Horse will be launched on Friday at Central Library, 6.30pm. There will be poetry readings from Oscar Upperton, Johanna Aitchison, and Paula Clare King. RSVP to genny.vella@pncc.govt.nz.
