Poetic pairings

August was a great month at the Ockham Collective. We launched our new space at The Nix, hosted two wonderful nights for writers and took part in a new event which was a highlight of National Poetry Day.

Held as part of the Auckland Writers Festival's Streetside: Beresford, the pairing of Ockham Collective musicians with the four nominated poets from the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards resulted in a mesmerising night for the packed crowd at Soap Dance Hall.

Each of the four short performances was very different but all were equally magical. Vanessa Kelly's vocals and flute provided a comedic counterpoint to Anne Kennedy's hilarious poem about art administrators who hate art; Eamon Edmundson-Wells and Serie Barford's performance had a jazzy improvisational feel; Harpistina provided a sumptuous backdrop to Tayi Tibble's relationship musings (pictured); while Joella Pinto and Joanna Preston engaged in a virtuosic conversation between violin and voice.

Even as the last sounds were reverberating, attendees were already enthusiastically speculating about it becoming an annual occurrence.