What makes a good poem? Read on! Well, I think freshness of approach and diction always helps. Making it new, the old dictum from Ezra Pound, isn’t about making the subject of poetry new, but more the way the poem is said and presented. The right words in the right order are those words that […]

Oshadha Perera is the judge for the Haiku Junior category in our 2023 International Poetry Competition. Oshadha is a short story writer and poet from Southland and has won numerous writing competitions. So, what does Oshadha look for in a haiku? Read on!! *** I think the most important things in a haiku are originality […]

The Open Junior and Haiku Junior categories for individuals and schools in the 2023 New Zealand Poetry Society International Poetry Competition are now OPEN for entries. The Open Junior category for both individuals and schools has the theme of mythology and you will find more details here. All Open Junior poems submitted must be based […]

The Open Verse Junior (17 years or younger) and the Haiku Junior (17 years or younger) categories for both individuals and schools will be open for entries on April 20, 2023. The Open Verse Junior category has a theme, which means poems should include this theme. The theme is MYTHOLOGY, and it can be interpreted […]

Haiku (plural: haiku) is a short (having no more than four lines) nature-oriented poem expressing the poet’s direct experience of something, description of background/surroundings, and an original and deep thought based on it. It more often than not contains a reference to a certain season or a kigo / season word, one per poem. A proper haiku consists of two […]

When writing, I try to think of a poem as a living thing. A poem moves and breathes; it may have a texture or a scent; it possesses vitality. I’m drawn to poems that seem to leap off the page at me, that pull me in, that pulse with heat and sound. Complicated language and […]

The New Zealand Poetry Society International Poetry Competition is open for TWO categories – Open Verse Adults (18+ years) and Haiku Adults (18+ years). We are having a SEPARATE JUNIOR COMPETITION in 2023, which will open on April 20. There will be TWO categories for youth: Open Verse Junior (17 years or younger) and Haiku […]

We’re thrilled to let you know that we’ll be launching this year’s anthology on Thursday, December 8, 6:00-7.30 p.m. Unlike in 2020 and 2021, when we had to launch via Zoom, we’re holding a physical launch in Wellington this year. The venue is: Good Books2/16 Jessie Street, Te Aro, Wellington We will have poetry readings and copies […]

a fine line’s theme for its Autumn 2022 edition is “EYE” Aye aye, it’s an EYE for an I. What do you spy through your little eye? in the blink of an eye? in the eye of the storm, or a needle? NZ Poetry Society Members, send us up to four of your best poems and […]

a fine line is looking for digital art to feature throughout the pages of our next Summer edition. Please submit on the theme of BARREN for this edition, for the opportunity to feature alongside poetry from all over New Zealand. Our journal is produced for both digital and print subscribers, so your colour images should […]

A big-hearted donation from the Windrift Haiku group means that we can publish a small selection of haiku from our members. Haiku can be on any theme and will be published in a fine line magazine. Send up to four haiku by 10 December 2021. See submission guidelines at https://poetrysociety.org.nz/poems-reviews/a-fine-line-quarterly-magazine Submit haiku to Gail Ingram […]

a fine line’s theme for its Summer 2021 edition is BARREN What happens in spaces where nothing grows? What thrives in empty or lifeless lands? What ideas does the word “barren” conjure up in relation to your life? In relation to the planet? How might poetry seek to traverse these spaces? Send us up to […]

Read our featured student poet and shortlisted poets now for the Winter issue of a fine line.

Renew or join to read new poetry, student poems, articles, book reviews and an interview! Click through to a fine line here.

Sign up as a member to support poets and poetry in New Zealand! Find out more at https://poetrysociety.org.nz/members/joining-the-nzps/

June 2023: Half the year gone already! Despite the ongoing and constant wet weather our extension/renovations are progressing so if it seems like I’ve ‘gone missing’ over the next month, that’s probably why. Part of the roof needs to come off and there has to be a hole in an outside wall at some stage, […]

Carolyn Hall discovered haiku in 1999 and has been widely published in the United States and internationally. Robert Epstein, who is a psychotherapist living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area, and also a haiku anthologist and haiku poet, interviews Carolyn about her experience editing two Haiku journals: Mariposa (the Journal of the Haiku Poets of […]

You can now PRE-ORDER your copy of the NZPS 2022 Poetry Anthology, ‘alarm & longing’. Order a few copies for yourself and your family, wrap them up as holiday gifts, and savour the wonderful poetry inside the cover of our beautifully presented anthology. We thank you in advance for your order because you are supporting NZPS and the poetry […]