As the nation acclimatises to a lockdown in the fight against coronavirus, the New Zealand Poetry Society would like to reach out to its community and assure you all that we remain strongly committed to the promotion of poets and poetry in Aotearoa.

Initiatives for you to look forward to include our International Competition, which launches as online-only next week. More details regarding submission guidelines to come! In other news, the NZPS is planning their annual general meeting (AGM) for the 6th of June 2020, at 2pm. This will be a digital event, held on Zoom. We will provide more information about the event and details of how to access Zoom closer to the time.

In terms of affected services, NZPS memberships remain as normal and can be renewed online. Payments by cheque won’t be banked until after the lockdown. We’re here to help, so please email info@poetrysociety.org.nz with any questions.

The next edition of a fine line magazine will be distributed in digital format to all members, with hard copies sent to print subscribers when print services resume. Unfortunately, 2019 anthology orders will be delayed.

Our thoughts go out to all those affected by this outbreak – those working in essential services, our artists and writers in the creative industries, and every global citizen. We will be trying to spread information about online poetry events at this time, so that we can come together and celebrate poetry, even while quarantining for the health of the nation. Email social@poetrysociety.org.nz with your digital initiatives. Feel free to comment and share a poem or quotation (of your own or someone else’s, correctly attributed) that is getting you through these historic times.

Be well, be kind,

Ngā mihi,
The NZPS

Photo by Laura Smetsers.