This episode is the third in a three-part series celebrating the publication of AUP New Poets 5 edited by Anna Jackson and published by Auckland University Press.

Launched in 1999, AUP New Poets first introduced readers to Anna Jackson, Sonja Yelich, Janis Freegard, Chris Tse and many other significant New Zealand voices. Relaunching this year under the editorship of Anna Jackson and with a bold new look, AUP New Poets 5 includes substantial selections from the poetry of Carolyn DeCarlo, Sophie van Waardenberg and Rebecca Hawkes.

In poems about limpets and mangroves, beauty and hunger, ‘love, actually’ and earthquake preparedness, the poets’ work stands out for its fierce intelligence, formal command and dazzling vivacity. AUP New Poets 5 is the perfect introduction to the lively diversity of New Zealand poetry today.

We end the series with a conversation with Sophie van Waardenberg whose section in AUP New Poets 5 is called ‘does a potato have a heart’. I asked Sophie to chose one of her poems and one by another poet as a starting point for our conversation. Sophie chose her poem ‘does a potato have a heart’ and ‘Why Haven’t You Written’ by Patricia Lockwood (from Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexual)

Sophie van Waardenberg was born in London and grew up in Auckland. She has a BA in English and history from the University of Auckland, and will soon be studying towards her MFA at Syracuse University. Her work has been published in Starling, Mimicry, Best New Zealand Poems and The Spinoff. She spends a lot of time browsing socks on the internet.

Patricia Lockwood is an American poet and essayist. In addition to her memoir Priestdaddy, which was named one of the 10 best books of 2017 by The New York Times, she has published two poetry collections and is notable for her trans-genre poetics, including her series of Twitter “sexts” and the prose poem ‘Rape Joke.’

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Ep 68: Part 3 AUP New Poets 5 – Sophie van Waardenberg talks about Patricia Lockwood’s ‘Why Haven’t You Written’ and ‘does a potato have a heart’ by Sophie van Waardenberg