Pukapuka Talks: Escaping the Poem

Cliff Fell and John Newton perform parts of their hybrid works, an epic poem and a verse novel.

Escaping the Poem brings together poets John Newton and Cliff Fell in a reading and performance of new works, each exploring the poem’s ability to escape the lyric tradition. Newton’s verse novel Escape Path Lighting (VUP 2020) is a hilarious and sometimes savage satire on the creative writing life, as seen through the lens of fictional poet Arthur Bardruin, resident of an island not dissimilar to Waiheke – from where poets who breach the writing school’s creative mores are at risk of incarceration in the notorious ‘Isle of Drunks’. Fell’s epic poem ‘101 Bows to Lawrence Ferlinghetti’, published earlier this year on Newsroom’s readingroom, is a celebration of the Beat poet’s life and renaissance of poem as musical performance, restoring verse to its troubadour roots. Fell and Newton are both musicians and used to perform together, so this is a literary panel event that will morph into a music show – bring your dancing shoes as the muse loves to dance.