Other Collections at Lockett: an event for National Poetry Day

Rachel Doré (pictured) and others will read from "This Town & Other Writing" at an event at Lockett Gallery this Friday. Photo / Paul Brooks

This Friday at 5.15pm, at Lockett Gallery next to Paige's Book Gallery is an event titled Other Collections at Lockett.
Friday, August 26 is National Poetry Day.
Other Collections at Lockett celebrates the launch of a new book, This Town & Other Writing, a collection of short stories, flash fiction and poems from a group of writers from wider Manawatu, Marton, Foxton and Kapiti who meet monthly in Feilding. The book has been edited by Patricia Dunmore and Rachel Doré and published by Heritage Press.

It is a collection of entertaining short stories, with a few snippets of poetry, from 14 different authors. It received support from the Creative NZ Creative Communities Fund.
The book is the first to be released by Heritage Press since Patricia Dunmore bought the company back after it had been sold outside of the family.

"I have a writers' group I started several years ago," says Rachel Doré. The book contains 49 pieces of writing contributed by 14 members of the group.
Rachel is "a trained facilitator and coach, a former newspaper reporter, and a painter (when I'm painting), and I've been an art teacher and drama coach." She continues to facilitate the group and is also a participant.
"I believe in encouraging people to articulate their ideas through creative expression. Creativity can be having ideas in response to the world and needing to know what medium, what genre and where to find the skills to express that, and how to develop it."

She is also on air on Manawatu People's Radio (MPR) with a weekly audio podcast, Words from the Bubble, interviewing NZ writers about writing, publishing and the writer's life.
"There are people in the writing group who are published authors, while at the same time ... there are people who are just finding their feet as writers."

The evening will include readings from Tim Upperton, Kapiti poet Sebastian Hales, Manawatu storyteller Gary Dell, and Rachel Doré, representing the writers in This Town & Other Writing.

"I love Whanganui, I love the vibe. I've performed here — spoken word, and so on — and I love Whanganui audiences, so I thought, why not give the book formally, like a launch, to Whanganui by doing some performances from the book as tasters."

Before lockdown, Rachel performed her poetry for fundraising events in Whanganui. In 2017 Rachel inaugurated the Manawatu Writers' Festival.

Tim Upperton will be reading from his new poetry collection, "A Riderless Horse" at Lockett Gallery this Friday. Photo / Judith Lacy.

The event also celebrates poet, Tim Upperton's book of poems,

A Riderless Horse

, published by Auckland University Press.

Tim is a poet, reviewer, teacher and blogger who has published three poetry collections. His first book,

A House on Fire

, was published by Steele Roberts in 2009. His second poetry collection,

The Night We Ate The Baby

, was an Ockham New Zealand Book Awards finalist in 2016. In his third poetry collection

A Riderless Horse

(AUP, 2022) Tim stands in the everyday and then runs with it with poems of acid wit, intimations of loss and unexpected resolution.

He tutors poetry, fiction and travel writing in the School of English and Media Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North campus.

Rachel says the two books,

This Town & Other Writing

and

A Riderless Horse

are a package of entertainment.

The Details
What: Other Collections at Lockett
When: Friday, August 26, 5.15pm
Where: Lockett Gallery, Guyton St.