Canterbury Poets' Collective - Poetry in Performance

Kia ora koutou

Thank you once again for supporting the Canterbury Poets’ Collective during our Boosted campaign.

We raised $20,480 from 160 donors in 30 days!

This is, quite simply, mind-blowing. We are so incredibly grateful to everyone who donated money, or promoted the campaign to others, or who just wished us well.

The next time someone says that poetry doesn’t matter, feel free to smile knowingly, and tell them that you know of $20,480 that very much says otherwise.

And while the Boosted campaign is over, the next five years of Poetry in Performance is about to begin! The October 2024 season starts on Thursday 10 October and runs every Thursday after that right through the end of October.

Join us in the Ara Imagitech Theatre (130 Madras Street, Christchurch) for two hours of poetry including our warm and friendly open mic. Arrive early to add your name to the open mic list, mix and mingle, and grab a good seat before we get started at 6.30 pm sharp.

Tickets are $10 each night or $30 for a season pass which gives you all 4 nights for the price of 3 plus the option to join via Zoom (perfect if you aren’t local or suddenly can't make it in person one night but you don't want to miss out). All funds raised go to support future CPC events and poetry in Canterbury. Door sales with eftpos available or buy online: https://canterburypoets.org.nz/tickets/ Big thanks to our venue sponsor Ara Institute of Canterbury.

Our guest poets this October are:

• 10 October: Hinemoana Baker, Jor Dansaren, Philomena Johnson
• 17 October: Richard von Sturmer, Marjory Woodfield, Tarn Wright
• 24 October: Sue Wootton, Cadence Chung, Davien Gray
• 31 October: Daniel Goodwin and the Airing Cupboard Women Poets

And finally, here is the full collaborative cento which the CPC committee wrote prior to and in support of our Boosted campaign.

https://youtu.be/Jk1FOIpp7w8

Belonging, Connection: a collaborative cento

by the 2024 Canterbury Poets’ Collective committee (Marisa Cappetta, Davien Gray, Jenna Heller, Gail Ingram, Erik Kennedy, Raina Kingsley, and Joanna Preston)

I know what it’s like to not fit in –

you carry the ocean in your pocket.

The love of all your lumps and bumps

– so many knots, so very many tangles.

mauka awa waka whakapapa,

a kea calls somewhere out to the left field.

Belonging takes more forms than there are knick-knacks in your nan’s house.

As soon as the sun isn't overhead you're not alone, because there are shadows.

Middle of nowhere / centre of everywhere

where else can a weary heart lay to rest?

We all flourish, we all wither, we all flourish.

Plant feet to floor to air to moss / and bloom

climb further up and further out

Interconnected trusses that support the roof of the world.

I tried to fit in with brash, ill-advised declarations

there, a buffet of beautiful blind intersections,

the weave and weft of abraded vulnerability.

I remember the sound home made when it saw me again,

and you bought me the richness of your words.

Hold me in your silence, crowd

I claim you, like lost luggage, or bad habits.

Poetry gives us a fast pass to the heart,

bristling, like the seed head of a teasel.

you will feel corduroy in the autumn air,

pulling train track levers to find my home line.

The streets are barred from the nighttime houses. 

the tension on the clothesline from being hugged by

jumpers.

Spit word spindles that dance and twist,

Float down the road, dissipating

my ballpoint pen walks you down the lines,

a well-worn seat, with your name upon it. 

From the bottom of our hearts, thanks again. We hope to see you at a Poetry in Performance night soon!

Your CPC committee

Marisa Cappetta, Davien Gray, Jenna Heller, Gail Ingram, Erik Kennedy, Raina Kingsley, and Joanna Preston

To say thank you for your unbelievable support over the course of our successful Boosted campaign, here’s part 4 of our collaborative cento.

There are still 2 days left for people to help us reach our $3,000 stretch goal. For those who have donated to our stretch goal - a special thank you. You're helping us buy some much-needed audio equipment to make sure our poets can be heard clearly wherever we hold events without being at the mercy of the venue’s audio equipment. This also makes it much easier to take Poetry in Performance on a South Island tour -- something we’ve been dreaming about over the last couple of years.

Specifically, we’d like to add the following to our kit: 1 x amplifier $1,250, 2 x lapel mics $1,400, 1 x mic stand $50, and 1 x microphone $300. And should we be lucky enough to achieve our stretch goal target, every additional dollar donated over and above this, enables the Canterbury Poets’ Collective to offer more to our diverse poetry whānau.

Thank you again for your support. Please enjoy part four of our “Belonging, Connection: a collaborative cento” written by the CPC committee (in order of appearance in this part of the video: Raina Kingsley, Joanna Preston, Jenna Heller, Davien Gray, Marisa Cappetta, Erik Kennedy, and Gail Ingram). If you missed parts 1, 2, and 3, check our previous updates on our Boosted page and keep an eye out for the complete cento, coming soon!

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/81M9giC3Ycg

Poetry gives us a fast pass to the heart,

bristling, like the seed head of a teasel.

you will feel corduroy in the autumn air,

pulling train track levers to find my home line.

The streets are barred from the nighttime houses. 

the tension on the clothesline from being hugged by

jumpers.

Spit word spindles that dance and twist,

Float down the road, dissipating

my ballpoint pen walks you down the lines,

a well-worn seat, with your name upon it. 

With your help, we've been able to successfully raise $20,000 in under a month! THANK YOU! This will keep our Poetry in Performance series thriving for the next 5 years, and give us the opportunity to do more than bite our nails between grant applications. We truly could not have done this without each and every one of our 152 donors. 

Thank you to everybody who helped spread the word about our crowdfunding efforts. Thank you, Catalyst Literary Arts Journal, Hagley Writers' Institute, and Write On: School for Young Writers, and for the special promotion at both the Poetry Grand Slam Final this past Wednesday and Speakeasy on Thursday. Special thanks to Chris Tse, Ruby Solly, Helen Lowe, Ciaran Fox, and so many other individuals for your shows of support. Thank you to everyone who sent an encouraging message, donated on behalf of someone no longer with us, or donated on behalf of a group -- the Small White Teapot Haiku Group, the Poetry Class, Photosynthesis, Brown Bread, and more.

We're incredibly grateful for every single person’s contribution to our campaign — crowdfunding is partly about raising the money to keep the lights on (and phew, we made it!), but it's also about strengthening and building our community. 

Immense thanks for your matching donations Rātā Foundation, Caxton - Design & Print Excellence, and our anonymous donor. Your generosity has helped enormously this month.

If you'd still like to donate, you've got 3 more days to help us reach our $3,000 stretch goal -- and beyond. This will help us get our own audio equipment, which will help us become more self-sufficient and less reliant on the available tech at venues around Ōtautahi, Canterbury, and further afield. This will also go a long way toward building the bright future of the CPC.

We did it - you and us, together. Our poetry whānau is amazing!! We can't thank you all enough. Please keep an eye on our socials over the next week or so for Boosted updates, for the remainder of our collaborative cento, and for information about our upcoming Poetry in Performance series starting on Thursday 10 October!

At the end of week three, we’ve raised 60% of our goal from 78 generous donors like you. Thank you! Your donations have helped us unlock $5,000 of the Rātā Foundation’s matching donation and the $1,000 of the Caxton’s matching donation.

Thanks to the generosity of an individual who wishes to remain anonymous, earlier this week, we brought on another match donor to the value of $2,000. We are extremely thankful for their support and belief in our Poetry in Performance readings.

In order to get us across the line for our all-or-nothing goal, we would love it if you could help us in this final week by sharing with your friends and whānau about the CPC’s Poetry in Performance reading series and why you support this kaupapa.

You can also follow us on Instagram and on Facebook for more updates and to find posts that are easy to share with others.

Yesterday, we released Part 3 of "Belonging, Connection" our collaborative cento written by the CPC’s committee (in order of appearance in this video: Marisa Cappetta, Jenna Heller, Davien Gray, Erik Kennedy, Raina Kingsley, and Joanna Preston). If you missed parts 1 and 2, you can find them on our social channels. You can read the words below and watch part 3 here.

I tried to fit in with brash, ill-advised declarations

there, a buffet of beautiful blind intersections,

the weave and weft of abraded vulnerability.

I remember the sound home made when it saw me again,

and you bought me the richness of your words.

Hold me in your silence, crowd

I claim you, like lost luggage, or bad habits.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has donated to our Boosted fundraising campaign so far! Whether it’s $5 or $500, your donations go a long way to ensuring our Poetry in Performance series can continue to thrive.

With 60 donors, we're now halfway to our goal with 16 days left in the campaign! Amazing.

Here's part two of our "Belonging, Connection: a collaborative cento" written by the CPC committee (in order of appearance in this part of the video: Erik Kennedy, Jenna Heller, Davien Gray, Raina Kingsley, Gail Ingram, Joanna Preston, and Marisa Cappetta). Come back next week and/or follow us on Facebook or Instagram for the next installment! Watch part two here.

As soon as the sun isn't overhead you're not alone, because

       there are shadows.

Middle of nowhere / centre of everywhere

where else can a weary heart lay to rest?

We all flourish, we all wither, we all flourish.

Plant feet to floor to air to moss / and bloom

climb further up and further out

Interconnected trusses that support the roof of the world.

Thank you so much, poetry whānau. We couldn't do this without you.

Our community is awesome! Thank you to everyone who has donated or shared our campaign message or posts with friends and whānau so far. We are so grateful for every donation and all of your support.

We are also so grateful and pleased to welcome local Ōtautahi printers CAXTON as a match donor up to $1,000! Their donation was made in memory of Helen Bascand – a stalwart of the CPC, whose first poetry collection, Windows on the Morning Side, was published by Sudden Valley Press in 2001. Caxton has been the printer for Sudden Valley Press for over thirty years.

Caxton is an award-winning design and print company with a proud history of printing in Christchurch. They are specialist offset, digital, fine art and wide format printers with an experienced, professional and creative team, using cutting-edge technology with sustainable printing practices.

Founded by Denis Glover in 1935, the Caxton Press continues to be involved in supporting the Canterbury arts scene — the Court Theatre, the Christchurch Art Gallery, Canterbury Cricket… and now us!

A SPECIAL TREAT FOR YOU

Before the campaign started, the Canterbury Poets' Collective committee talked about how we discovered the CPC and what being part of the CPC means to us. We talked about finding a sense of belonging, the people in our tribe, feeling a sense of connection to the bigger currents in poetry and the arts in Aotearoa New Zealand, how it felt like walking into a room of friends even though you didn't know anyone, yet.

We decided to write a cento and release it in four parts during the course of the campaign, a way of saying thanks in poetic form. From the Latin word for "patchwork", the cento is a sort of collage poem or a poem composed of odd fragments. We each wrote a handful of individual lines on the themes of "belonging" and "connection" and then Joanna Preston ordered them into something quite a stunning.

Here, we offer you part one of "Belonging, Connection: a collaborative cento" written by the CPC committee (in order of appearance in the video: Marisa Cappetta, Jenna Heller, Davien Gray, Joanna Preston, Raina Kingsley, Gail Ingram, and Erik Kennedy). We hope you enjoy the start. Please come back next week and follow us on Facebook or Instagram for the next installment!

[Note: We're having trouble posting the video to our Boosted page, so here are the words only until we can figure that out.]

I know what it’s like to not fit in –

you carry the ocean in your pocket.

The love of all your lumps and bumps

– so many knots, so very many tangles.

mauka awa waka whakapapa,

a kea calls somewhere out to the left field.

Belonging takes more forms than there are knick-knacks

       in your nan’s house.