Book launch: Hotel Theresa by Doc Drumheller

I have strolled down the brownstones of Harlem
with a heart full of salt peanuts and jazz.
Looking for soul food and a place to eat
as I try to find the Hotel Theresa.

 Come visit Hotel Theresa, the latest collection of poetry by Doc Drumheller, published by Cold Hub Press, with support from Christchurch City Creative Communities funding.

Hotel Theresa by Doc Drumheller launch event

Scorpio Books, BNZ Centre Five Lanes

Wednesday 13th November from 5.30pm

RSVP to tinyurl.com/ScorpioBooksRSVP 

The Hotel Theresa is a landmark in Harlem, New York City, where legendary figures like Josephine Baker, Duke Ellington, Malcolm X, and Muhammad Ali made their New York stay-overs. After visiting this iconic hotel, poet Doc Drumheller was inspired to write and collect poems based on his travels, exploring the world as a dual citizen of New Zealand and the USA. The poems in this collection were composed on his journeys in New Zealand, and throughout the USA, Asia, Europe, and Central America.

For those unfamiliar with Republic of Oma Rāpeti Press publisher and editor-in-chief, Doc Drumheller is an award-winning poet, musician, dramatist, who has published 11 collections of poetry. His poems have been translated into more than 20 languages. He is the editor and publisher of the New Zealand literary journal Catalyst. 

He was elected to represent New Zealand on the Executive Board of the World Congress of Poets, and is the editor in chief of the World Congress of Poets literary journal Fuego. He has appeared at international poetry festivals all over the world, and has performed in Cuba, Lithuania, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Japan, India, China, Nicaragua, USA, Mexico, El Salvador, Ecuador, and widely throughout NZ.

His previous collection, Drinking With Li Bai, 100 Haiku from China and India, was published, with a memorable launch at Scorpio Books, by Cold Hub Press in 2022.

 

Announcement: Book Launch coming soon - They Crackle in the Rain by Ciaran Fox

 

It's a bit of an understatement to say we're excited about this landmark moment in the story of our wee press. Co-founder and long-time host of Catalyst's open mic, Ciaran Fox is releasing his first collection of poetry - They Crackle in the Rain.

Shortlisted last year for the inaugural John O'Connor First Book of Poetry Award, the collection attracted judge Elizabeth Smither's eye and ear:

'They Crackle in the Rain reminded me of so many loved poets and poetry schools: The Beats, Black Mountain, Snyder, Ferlinghetti, Ginsberg, Éluard, Apollinaire: poets who were risk-takers, extravagant in images and emotion, to whom the flow of a poem was important, celebratory.' 

- Elizabeth Smither, from the judges report, John O‘Connor First Book Award 2022

A collection 20 years in the making – interrupted (and informed) by parenthood, earthquakes, and a day job in mental health promotion as well as holding space for young and emerging poets.

They Crackle in the Rain represents a two decades-long time-lapse through a life both imagined and real in which no experience is left untouched by dream and longing, hope and regret. Misremembered sun-painted afternoons and rain-swept city streets are the background for rivers swallowing hearts, apocryphal internal affairs and a parent lost in the woods of dementia. Death is an ache in the bones and an echo of dance steps while love wins chaotic, temporary victories...

'These are big question poems: whether to drift or commit, solitude versus company, whether to be serious about a talent. Something is always interrupting a conclusion, leading onto the next poem.' Performed or on the page, this is a fine collection.

 - Elizabeth Smither

They Crackle in the Rain will be launched at Christchurch book-lovers haven, Scorpio Books on Wednesday 25th October. Details coming soon.

Drinking With Li Bai - 100 haiku from China and India by Doc Drumheller (Cold Hub Press 2022)

 

Book Launch - Drinking With Li Bai by Doc Drumheller

 

It's nice to collaborate with fellow independent publishers and we're proud to support the launch of this latest collection by Doc Drumheller from Cold Hub Press - Drinking With Li Bai - 100 haiku from China and India.

Drinking With Li Bai features one hundred haiku composed by New Zealand poet Doc Drumheller while he was visiting Enshi, Guangzhou, Guizhou, Suiyang, Shengze, Shanghai, and Beijing in China, and Odisha, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, New Delhi, Varanasi, Agra, Bodh Gaya, and Allahabad in India.

On his travels Doc Drumheller has represented the Waimakariri District as a Cultural Ambassador to Enshi in a Sister City Cultural Exchange. He was appointed as the New Zealand Director of the Silk Road Poetry Project, and has represented New Zealand at international poetry festivals in China and India.

Drinking With Li Bai, 100 Haiku from China and India, by Doc Drumheller is published by Cold Hub Press 2022, and features Chinese translations by Liang Yujing, and calligraphy by Gong Qin.

Haiku from this collection were selected for Ōrongohau Best New Zealand Poems 2018, and Ōrongohau Best New Zealand Poems 2020.

Special thanks to the Asia New Zealand Foundation for funding Doc’s travels to Asia, and to Waimakariri District Creative Communities for funding the publication of this book.

Links:

https://www.bestnewzealandpoems.org.nz/past-issues/2018-contents/doc-drumheller/

https://www.bestnewzealandpoems.org.nz/past-issues/2020-contents/doc-drumheller/

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.