Māori Maid Difficult (cover art)

Chapbook Poem: Whenua by Nicola Andrews

Whenua

The word “whenua” can mean
ground, country, domain, after
birth, land/s, and placenta in te reo

Māori. I was born three months pre
mature, my mother labouring for both
our lives. In their haste, the doctors threw out

my placenta, like a used cotton swab.
It is said that a buried whenua binds the
baby to its place of birth, both in spirit and

body. Relegated to medical
waste, my whenua bound me to Accident and
Emergency. A regular at Starship, my

mother revived me on numerous
occasions, CPR drills a hard re
set for my failing body, attention and

toys enough to keep me at ease.
An adult abroad, I’ve had several
surgeries now, while my mother declined

surgery, then declined slowly. Both governed by
Hospital Time’s blandness, we talked small in
to the expansive nothingness of hours

I’d give anything for more
of. Red whenua, they don’t call
it the damn mother land for nothing.

(This poem was first published by The Spinoff Review of Books.)

About the Poem

Nicola Andrews

Author Bio

Nicola Andrews (Māori, Pākehā) is a member of the Ngāti Paoa iwi currently living on Ramaytush Ohlone territory. Their writing practice has been supported by communities including the Kearny Street Interdisciplinary Writers Lab, Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, Rooted & Written, and the Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation. In 2023, they were awarded the University of Washington Information School Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Alumni Impact Award, and won the AAALS Indigenous Writers Prize for Poetry. Their micro-chap SENTIMENTAL VALUE was published in the 2023 Ghost City Press Summer Series, and their work is forthcoming in several anthologies. In their spare time, they watch dinosaur documentaries with their cat.


From Māori Maid Difficult

“He karanga: poems that call out to those who understand and have been yearning to hear a
voice meant for them. He wero: poems that call out those who get in the way. Ancestors,
family, language and land are everywhere – invoked, described, present, pulsing, overlapping – in this stunning collection that speaks from, about, to, and towards Aotearoa. In so many ways Māori Maid Difficult is a first yet it brings to mind generations of Māori poets who have gone before. Smart, sharp, funny, brittle, supple. Giving and refusing. Irreverent and sensitive. Vulnerable and mysterious. Aroha and hahaha and hā. All at the same time. All in the best ways.” -Alice Te Punga Somerville, winner of the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry 


Contents

New Poetry Titles (7/2/24)

Check out new poetry books published the week of 7/2 from Black Lawrence Press, LSU Press, Persea, Omnidawn, Bloodaxe Books and Central Avenue Publishing.

Poetry Chapbooks (June 2024)

Check out new poetry chapbooks for June 2024 from Driftwood Press, Sheila-Na-Gig Inc., Diode Editions, Querencia Press, The Poetry Box, Finishing Line Press, Bottlecap Press and an Editor’s Pick from Tupelo Press.

New Poetry Titles (7/9/24)

Check out new poetry books published the week of 7/9 from Finishing Line Press, New Directions, Phoneme Media, University of Calgary Press and Curbstone Books.

July ‘24: A Fledgling Journal No More

We’ve completed our first volume, there’s a new featured chapbook poem, and we’re starting to look for a Poetry Editor to expand what we publish. Check out the editor’s note for July 2024.

Chapbook Poem: Whenua by Nicola Andrews

Read the featured Chapbook Poem of the Month for July 2024, “Whenua” from Māori Maid Difficult by Nicola Andrews, along with a few words from the poet.

New Poetry Titles (7/16/24)

Check out new poetry books published the week of 7/16 from Finishing Line Press, Soft Skull, Penguin Books, Regal House Publishing and University Of Minnesota Press.

New Poetry Titles (7/23/24)

Check out new poetry books published the week of 7/23 from Host Publications, W. W. Norton & Company, Carcanet Press Ltd., LSU Press, Finishing Line Press, The Song Cave and Wake Forest University Press.

New Poetry Titles (7/30/24)

Check out new poetry books published the week of 7/30 from Delete Press, Quale Press, Duke University Press, Seagull Books, Sarabande Books, Michigan State University Press and Alternating Current Press.

Southern Literary Tradition: On ‘Snake Lore’ by Jane Morton

In this essay, C.M. Crockford reviews “Snake Lore” by poet Jane Morton, a chapbook published by Black Lawrence Press in February 2024.

New Poetry Titles (8/6/24)

Check out new poetry books published the week of 8/6 from NYRB Poets, Belle Point Press, Finishing Line Press, Black Lawrence Press, Wayne State University Press, Milkweed Editions, Penguin Books, Bloodaxe Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Alice James Books, Mercer University Press and two Editor’s Picks from Coffee House Press and Wesleyan University Press.

Chapbook Poem: It’s okay to say the hurricane has an eye by Amanda Rabaduex

Read the featured Chapbook Poem of the Month for August 2024, “It’s okay to say the hurricane has an eye” from Resin in the Milky Way by Amanda Rabadeux, along with a few words from the poet.

Poetry Chapbooks (July 2024)

Check out new poetry chapbooks for July 2024 from Seven Kitchens Press, Small Harbor Publishing, Belle Point Press, Orison Books, Variant Lit, Querencia Press, The Poetry Box, Bottlecap Press and Finishing Line Press.

New Poetry Titles (8/13/24)

Check out new poetry books coming the week of 8/13 from Querencia Press, Alice James Books, Finishing Line Press, University of New Mexico Press, Harbour Publishing, Knopf, Amistad, TriQuarterly and Red Hen Press.

New Poetry Titles (8/20/24)

Check out new poetry books coming the week of 8/20 from Querencia Press, Finishing Line Press, McClelland & Stewart, Zephyr Press, Tin House Books, W. W. Norton & Company, Red Hen Press, Graywolf Press, Wesleyan University Press and an Editor’s Pick from Copper Canyon Press.

New Poetry Titles (8/27/24)

Check out new poetry books for the week of 8/27 from Carcanet Press Ltd., Beltway Editions, Finishing Line Press,, LSU Press, Milkweed Editions, Tupelo Press, Guernica Editions, University of Nebraska Press and Texas Review Press.

Resistance and Resignation in Will Russo’s Glass Manifesto

“Glass Manifesto is a meditative collection of poems that call to resist the powers that move the world at times, or resign and offer oneself up to them at others.” Review by PCR contributor, Drishya.

Meet Our Contributor: Drishya

Meet our contributor, Drishya, a writer and artist based in Kolkata, India, publishing under a single name to protest India’s caste system. Read about his writing life and other work.