Catalyst: Celebrating 20 years of indie publishing.

Spewing literary lava since 2003.

The forthcoming NZ launch of Catalyst volume 20 marks twenty years of independent publishing for the literary arts journal based in Waitaha - Canterbury.

Founded in the extinct volcano of Lyttelton Harbour, Whakaraupo by editor Doc Drumheller with collaborator Ciaran Fox, the then new kid on the block of NZ literary journals started a poetry open mic and print journal in 2003. The project developed out of creative writing workshops facilitated by Doc Drumheller at underground arts venue, gallery and workspace, Creation. Participants dreamed up the name Catalyst as a signal that the new journal was aimed at shaking up the poetry publishing scene and opening space for young and emerging poets unable to access more established, literary or academic creative writing journals and publications and present them alongside renowned poets from Aotearoa and beyond. 

Catalyst  has always shown an interest in poetry fusions, experimental writing and forms, and particularly, other languages. The first ten years of Catalyst saw poetry presented in translation from half a dozen different languages and cultures. Since then, Doc has travelled to numerous countries presenting Catalyst and building an international friendship and reputation while bring home to Aotearoa feature sections of poetry from around the world. Volume 20 features poetry from China and Israel. 

The visual elements of Catalyst have also reflected an interest in design and art from the fringe. With a strong focus on Aotearoa artists both locally based and international, the journal always features a strong visual aesthetic and has occasionally included pageworks of poetic/design fusion on the front and back covers as well as internally.

In keeping with this experimental aesthetic, Catalyst also began publishing recordings of spoken word in collaboration with composers, sound artists and songwriters, produced by Jody Lloyd aka Trillion. Three volumes of spoken word/sonic collabs were released on CD. 

 

The interest in spoken word and performance was baked into the DNA of Catalyst as the open mic grew up alongside the journal. The first poetry slams in Christchurch were organised by the Catalyst crew at the Wunderbar in Lyttelton, eventually morphing into a slam show known as Poetry Idol. With the advent of the NZ Poetry Slam national competition, Catalyst continues to host the Ōtautahi Poetry Slam. Not content with introducing Christchurch to the entertainment potential of slam, Catalyst developed a new show for the Christchurch Writers Festival based on a mash-up of slam, improv and reality TV, known as Survivor: Poetry. 'Survivor' was staged in three successive WORD Christchurch festivals. Rumour has it, it may be down, but not out.

 

The first ten years saw Catalyst published under the imprint of Neoismist Press. With volume 10, Neoismist was retired and The Republic of Oma Rāpeti Press was born. The Press has its own flag and continues to establish a sovereign nation for poets and poetry. In 2014, it launched the first volume of an emerging poets series called Republic of Poets. The format presents longer selections from three feature poets. Volume 2 is a twinkle in the eye.

Scroll forward and Catalyst volume 20: Oma, oma, oma! was officially welcomed in the Mediterranean at the World Congress of Poets 2023. Doc Drumheller is now a member of the executive board of WCP and founding editor of official WCP international journal Fuego.

 Catalyst remains a proudly print-based journal and continues to showcase local and international writers to a global audience. The Republic of Oma Rāpeti Press continues to publish chapbooks (Catalyst Christmas Cracker) and in its own 10th anniversary, also released the first collection by co-founder Ciaran Fox titled They Crackle in the Rain which was shortlisted as an unpublished manuscript for the inaugural John O'Connor First Book Award in 2022.

The Other Idol - Christchurch Writers Festival 2006 - Poetry Idol Special Report

As part of the Christchurch Writers Festival 2006, a biannual event sponsored by The Press, a special one-night-only Poetry Idol event was held. Riding the surge in interest in performance poetry the 'Festival Idol' was held upstairs in the De Lux Lounge at the Dux de Lux in Christchurch's Arts Centre on Sunday 10th September. This event differed in format from the annual Poetry Idol that Catalyst hosts at the Wunderbar in that it would be run over three rounds in the one night. 12 poets to be judged by special guest judges would diminish to just 3 in the final round to be judged solely by the audience. A preliminary workshop/audition was held on the Saturday by host Hot Pink, NZ's internationally recognised comic poet, to whittle the 25 entrants down to the starting dozen. The all-important judging panel consisted of Iggy McGovern, Ishle Yi Park and our very own Doc Drumheller. The judges were instructed by MC Hot Pink to make 'positive' comments on each of the poet's performances. So Kiwi. The 'wordy dozen' was as varied as the poetry on offer - the eldest contestant was 91, the youngest in their 20's. The poets performed one poem per round only and were given a 3 minute time limit - 'overstayers' would be cut-off, mid-metaphor. The running order was drawn from a hat. Poetry ensued. From bush ballads to rap to rugby the poets ran the gamut from angst to rhyme to scatological musings. Heart break, husbands and horrendous body odour. The packed-out De Lux Lounge was left reeling by the end of the 1st round. Several poets were let down by their seeming aversion to the microphone - either by accident or design - it was a mistake as being heard by the audience is kinda the idea when performing spoken word. (We at Catalyst pride ourselves on providing poets with valuable "on-mic' experience & training at our regular open mics, but enough about that!) Following each round the audience were to be treated to some exhibition performances by the extremely experienced judges. Round 1 saw Doc Drumheller serve up some "Peace a la Carte" with a little side salad from forthcoming book The Reality Myth. And then the dozen was halved. The six remaining poets were announced by Hot Pink and the order for the next round drawn from a hat. Seemingly age was beating beauty, but only just as the 6 performed their next poems. The judges came in for some unexpected interaction and the audience started to work out their favourites... Ishle Yi Park stunned the audience with an incredible performance of one of her pieces and was given a rapturous ovation. Next, our hard-working MC announced the final 3 poets who were to progress to the final, audience-judged round. Pleasing from our point of view, two of the finalists were previous Catalyst Poetry Idols - Lindon 'Zimmerman' McCormack and Cris Fulton. The third poet was Colin 'Banjo' Patterson. So it was to be country limericking versus super fast Scottish wit versus wistful yet funny lyricism. The audience made their choice by pencil and slip of paper and as the organisers counted the vote, Iggy McGovern described Irish poetry slams in humourously dubious rhyme. Hot Pink at last took the microphone to announce the placings to an enthusiatic audience who stayed the distance and seemed to enjoy every minute. And the winner is:

1st place: Colin Patterson

2nd place: Lindon Zimmerman

3rd place: Cris Fulton

The prizes included cash and also hospitality vouchers from the Dux de Lux as well as books from Catalyst and Iggy McGovern.

In the words of some great bard: ah, it was a game of three halves and poetry was definitely up there at the end of the day...

Catalyst Poetry Idol GRAND FINAL - images

Catalyst Poetry Idol 2006

Rebecca Reider

Runner Up 2006: Marissa Johnpillai

3rd place: Sam Warland

4th: Tim Wildermoth

5th: Ricky Madibela

There Can Be Only One...

Poetry Idol 2006 The Grand Final lived up to it's name with standing room only in the Wunderbar. (Perhaps that horse called poetry we've been flogging ain't quite dead?) As the anticipation built among the audience, the five finalists gathered before the stage for the traditional salute with a shot of Jagermeister and the draw to decide the order of the first set. As per the custom of Poetry Idol's Grand Final the poets would perform their first 3 poems and then after a break (wherein the hardworking audience of judges could quench their thirst) the poets would return in reverse order and perform their second set of 3 poems. A fabulous array of prizes awaited the poets - no-one would go home empty-handed. All finalists had already won $50 bar tabs from the Wunderbar for winning their heats (handy for impoverished poets to celebrate in style) and a poem to be included in Catalyst 6. As a special surprise they were also given a year's subscription to Catalyst. This year Poetry Idol received the coveted (and ever changing) Poetry Idol trophy, a $50 grocery voucher from Lyttelton Super Value as well as another $50 bar tab. Runner up received a $20 book voucher from Scorpio Books and a $20 voucher from Lyttelton Super Value. Third Place received an interesting bottle of wine courtesy of the Wunderbar A six pack for 4th (a beer for each poem!) and 5th received an industrial sized can of whole tomatoes and a small straw... all courtesy of the Wunderbar

Fabulous Prizes!

The poetry ran the gamut from epic diatribes, acapella song, political rant, new age symbolism to rap and feminism. And speaking of epic feminism a word must be said about the dynamic duo of co-hosts (us) who did their best to whip the audience into a frenzy of bloodlusting, poet-burning fervour. Alas, no poets were harmed in the making of Poetry Idol but do we know how to waffle on or what?!! Making a meal fit for a giant can of tomatoes, Doc and Kez announced the results after a vibrant open mic consisting of last years runner up, calypso singing and some earlier Idol contestants. And now, drum roll please...

The Results

Poetry Idol 2006 - Rebecca Reider

Runner Up - Marissa Johnpillai

3rd Place - Sam Warland

4th - Tim Wildermoth

5th - Ricky Madibela

Photos to follow!

And then there were 5...

Poetry Idol Grand Final - where the rubber meets the road.

Rounds 3, 4 & 5 were close fought affairs with plenty of drama, humour and a fair amount of paper dart throwing. Several poets came for a second and sometimes third attempt to make the final 5 and the competition was fierce. More photos are below of Rounds 4 & 5 but here is the list of the 5 brave poets who'll step up to the mic this week on August 31st.

Rebecca Reider

Ricky Madibela

Marissa Johnpillai

Tim Wildermoth

Sam Warland

The stakes are raised as the poets must perform twice with 3 poems in each set - so the audience can separate the one-hit-wonders from the true Poetry Idol.

To those who are about to recite, we salute you...

Poetry Idol Round 5 - Images

1st place: Sam Warland

Rob Meredith

2nd place: Ben (again!)

Helen Yong

3rd place: Suzanna

Open Mic Special Guest: Poetry Idol 2004 Lindon McCormack

Poetry Idol Round 4 - Images

Helen Lowe

Lynn Tara Austin

'Golden' Graham Bates

Noel Alexander

Poetry Idol Round 3 - Images

1st place: Marissa Johnpillai 2nd place: Ben Brown 3rd place: Barbara Strang

With many thanks to Pip for the photos.

Scorpio Rises to the occasion!

We are very pleased and proud to announce the support of one of Aotearoa's finest bookstores Scorpio Books in Christchurch for Poetry Idol 2006. Scorpio is providing the runners up in each of the five rounds with a $20 voucher - excellent! Imagine the treasures that await you in Scorpio Books - like Catalyst, for example... better yet, follow the link above and you can search for any book you like and if it's available they'll find it for you. As in previous years, the Wunderbar is sponsoring Poetry Idol as the official venue and atmosphere provider, the Wunderbar is also providing a bar tab to each round winner - that's almost reason enough to enter - free drinks at the best bar in Christchurch! Poets with enough sand can also volunteer to be thrashed by kez on the foosball table.

Poetry Idol - brought to you by the letter R!

Ricky roared and (w)riggled into the audience's favour while Rosemary relied on regaling the audience with the 'vibe'. Round Two is complete and while we always say to expect the unexpected, no-one foresaw the two poet head-to-head that we had last night. Round One on Thursday 27th July was a bustling affair with nearly a full entry card and some pretty fierce action. Eventually the audience's favourite was revealed and Rebecca Reider became the first finalist to add her name to the golden list for the Grand Final. Round Two as mentioned was a strange one as a small but vocal audience watched just two poets vie for the next place on the list. Rosemary Scott and Ricky Madibela went head to head while the supportive audience cheered them on. So on a night where no-one went home without a prize, Ricky Madibela was the winner and the next poet to go through to the Grand Final on August 31, while Rosemary vowed revenge and stating her intent to re-enter the next round - look out! Is there something about the letter R?

The Return of Catalyst Poetry Idol

... just when you thought it was safe to go back on the open mic... WANTED: Poets with a stout heart, fierce, fearless and, where appropriate, balls of steel... ALSO WANTED: Audience - must be prepared to judge, fair or harsh with a good ear and a light heart. Oh yes you better believe it, Poetry Idol makes it's wintery way back to the Wunderbar for more literary hijinks, heartbreak n' hilarity. Last year the mic was furiously fought over by a whole horde of poets and the mighty Cris Fulton swept the stage and claimed the title (and a small wooden windmill trophy). Who will it be this time? Do you have what it takes? Or do you want to be among the judges? We want to see blood on the microphone! Tears before bedtime! It's Catalyst's Poetry Idol: be prepared to entertain, stimulate, provoke, or move. Literally. THE DATES: Round One: Thursday 27th July, 8pm Round Two: Thursday 3rd August, 8pm Round Three: Thursday 10th August, 8pm Round Four: Thursday 17th August, 8pm Round Five: Thursday 24th August, 8pm Grand Final: Thursday 31st August, 8pm - featuring the five round winners in a knockdown, drag out, no-holds-barred, deathmatch! Registration for each round starts at 8pm, first 10 poets only. As always the audience is the judge, jury (and maybe even executioners...) We expect to see you ALL there. Yes, (wait for it) you know you want to

Brrrr here comes winter - quick! huddle 'round our volcano...

Well sadly we've waved goodbye to our summer season of readings (cue big sighs) but fret not! We now have our winter series planned to warm the cockles (whatever they are) of your heart. Live Poetry lives on at the Wunderbar! Catalyst is unabashedly pleased to announce the timetable for our chilly season of poetry open mic readings - here's the formula (take notes, there'll be a test): Live Poetry! LAST Thursday of every month at the Wunderbar, Lyttelton 8pm SHARP! And guess what? Sometime in July or August we'll be repeating the fabulously successful Poetry Idol competition. Wanna see poets beat each other about the head with similies? Maybe you just wanna make 'em cry? Then Poetry Idol is your bag, baby... stay tuned!

Poetry Idol Grand Final

... and as the dust settled, only one remained standing... and the winner, the grand champion, the Catalyst Poetry Idol 2005 is... But let's start at the beginning. Over 5 weeks we saw some talented, gutsy poets put to the sword. Well, as put to the sword as it gets in Aotearoa, namely "would you mind maybe standing over here while I stick this sword into you, mate, if you don't mind, sorry mate, you don't have to..." - you get the picture. That brought us to Thursday 25th of August and Grand Final night, live at the Wunderbar in Lyttelton. The five finalists were: A.J. Coyle Cris Fulton Lucette Hindin Dylan Kemp Derek Laver The tension built as the start was delayed by a late arriving poet but eventually the games could begin as host Doc Drumheller announced the format for the evening. Each poet would perform two sets of three poems, the audience would score both sets out of 30 - 10 points per poem. The running order would be drawn out of a hat and reversed for the second set. The prizes were unveiled: 1st: Catalyst Poetry Idol 2005 receives a $50 bar tab + $50 grocery voucher courtesy of Super Value Lyttelton. 2nd: receives $20 bar tab + $20 grocery voucher courtesy of Super Value Lyttelton. 3rd: receives a bottle of bubbly courtesy of the Wunderbar. Poetry Idol will also get a feature on this very website including one or two poems and Doc announced a surprise for all finalists: a years subscription to Catalyst and a poem to be included in the print journal. Not too shabby eh? The contenders then partook of the traditional Catalyst salute of a shot of Jagermeister and gird their loins for battle... As you'd expect it was as if all the finalists had brought their 'A-game' . At the break it was hard to pick who the audience most appreciated - we were in for the long haul. At the end of the second set it fell to recently returned Catalyst co-host Unkle Travelling Kez to scrutineer and tally the scorecards. Alas there could be only one Poetry Idol and as the dust settled... the results were: Catalyst Poetry Idol 2005: Cris Fulton 2nd place: Dylan Kemp 3rd place: Lucette Hindin Stay tuned for an upcoming feature on our Poetry Idol Chris Fulton on this very website and a feature section in Catalyst 4 with our five finalists.

Very special thanks from Catalyst go to

Peter Jackson and Super Value Lyttelton

and our buddies Jason and Tony at the Wunderbar in Lyttelton

for their staunch support of poetry!

Catalyst Poetry Idol - Round 1 Thurs 21st July 8pm, Wunderbar, Lyttelton

Our annual performance poetry competition gets a facelift and a shot of adrenalin in the ass.

WANTED: Poets with a stout heart, fierce, fearless and, where appropriate, balls of steel...
ALSO WANTED: Audience - must be prepared to judge, harsh, fair with a good ear and a light heart!

Forget Stars in Their Eyes, forget glorified karaoke singers on the TV.
This is the real thing. Performance poetry for keeps. Blood on the microphone, tears on the page and stage. Reputations won and lost. Just you, your words... and an audience of judges. You better step up. Or step off. Catalyst presents "Catalyst Poetry Idol" - the audience is the judge - be prepared to stimulate, provoke, entertain or move. Literally.

It's all just fun n' games (until someone loses an i)

To promote the launch of our first CD of spoken word to accompany Catalyst 4, once again we're throwing poets to the lions. There will be five heats over five weeks with fabulous prizes and an Idol Grand Final with the 5 heat winners to find the Catalyst Poetry Idol for 2005. (Kinda like a poet laureate but with dry ice and sequins).

The first ten poets to register for each heat will be eligible to compete in Catalyst Poetry Idol, registration starts at 8pm. There will also be an Open Mic for poets who miss out on registration. All judging will be done by the audience.

1st Prize: $50 bar tab and a track on the spoken word CD with Catalyst 4
2nd Prize: $20 bar tab
3rd Prize: Mystery Prizes.

The Winners of each heat will go through to the Grand Final (even more fabulous prizes TBC)

5 Preliminary Heats: All at Wunderbar, Lyttelton

Thursday July 21st 8pm
Thursday July 28th 8pm
Thursday August 4th 8pm
Thursday August 11th 8pm
Thursday August 18th 8pm

Idol Grand Final:
Thursday August 25th 8pm Wunderbar
featuring the 5 winners of the heats, competing for the coveted title of Catalyst Poetry Idol.

Come along, have a drink, support your local poets and help choose the Idol! Entry is FREE.
Stay tuned right here for weekly results and updates as New Zealand's most significant Idol competition ever, kicks (ass) off.