The Pop Artist's Garland: Selected Poems 1952-2009 by F W N Wright ed. Mark Pirie (HeadworX, 2010) 103pp ISBN 978-0-473-16871-1

Gill Ward

This volume of poetry, just over 100 pages, initially hit me as more of a kaleidoscope than a garland. Mark Pirie has put together a showcase of Niel Wright's poetry from 1952 - 2009. On deeper reading, these poems are indeed a garland of a myriad shapes and forms. To his great credit Pirie has completed a worthy undertaking in representing Wright's poetry in its many forms. To name a few of these - epigrams, triolets, odes, pop songs, sonnets, narrative verse, lyrics, elegies and ballads. He has ‘done Wright proud'.

Niel Wright has not only written over 3000 poems in his writing life, but also critical writings, essays on N.Z. writers and British authors, plays, novels, short stories and more. Further research into Wright, and the important writers he has documented, will take your breath away. You will ponder that Wright has lied about his age - surely he must be at least 210 years old to have written so prolifically?

But back to this important poetical selection. Pirie has attempted to select work that is "readily accessible to the public". It is a brave attempt and he must have found it an enormous task. The range is so wide that some of these poems will appeal more to some readers than others. Don't expect any kind of conformity of style. The old adage ‘you cannot please all of the people all of the time' applies here. Niel Wright forges his own path. His poems feel important but also challenging. At times they seem random and esoteric, but the impression remains that the words, lines, and shape of each poem are  deliberate and assiduously chosen. They are rich in history and ancient reference. They owe allegiance to many literary and classical sources and poets. They also draw on the past and present New Zealand scene. Some are humorous /ironic (‘Youth and Age II') and some poignant (‘Midsummer IV'). Many made me smile; some puzzled me. At times I felt disadvantaged by being unfamiliar with some literary and historical references - although many times I fled to my computer to help close the gap.

Wright names Denis List as one of his important references and there are two moving poems for the late List. There were times when I wished I was reviewing List - I find his poetry less challenging!

Before you read this volume I direct you, as Pirie does, to Niel Wright's entry on Wikipedia, where I suspect Pirie is the primary source. You will get the feel of this important and prolific poet who is largely unrepresented in New Zealand anthologies. Pirie has done Wright and his readers a brave justice in bringing so much of Wright's work to our attention by publishing this selection. It is a volume which will sit well in the recently formed Poetry Archive in Wellington.

     To finish with an example:

 

WORDS II

 
Boy with such music in his head
I match with insight too prophetic.
Was filled with fear for? what he heard,
Boy with such music in his head.
 
No less in old age than boyhood,
I relish words creative, vatic.
Boy with such music in his head,
I match with insight too prophetic

                                    (2009)

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