Why Poetry Matters - Michael Harlow in Conversation w/ Pat W

We invite you to a special evening when we will host Michael Harlow, recipient of the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry, and his friend and colleague, Pat White, for a reading of and discussion about poetry.

Michael Harlow is a poet, publisher and librettist. Born in the USA with Greek and Ukrainian heritage, he settled in New Zealand in 1968, and has published 11 books of poetry. Fiona Kidman describes him as ‘a distinguished and serious writer, dealing with big issues: life, death, sorrow, the inner consciousness, yet there is a bubble of gaiety, a vitality, never far from the surface."

Drawing on a varied background, Pat White has crafted an extensive body of poetry and creative nonfiction that reflects his love for the natural environment. Vincent O’Sullivan described Pat’s work as ‘poetry with its eye on “real things” – on work, on weather, on love, on finding the right name for things at the moment they are slipping away … with the everyday presented as the rare privilege it is.’ John Horrocks described Pat’s poems as ‘drawn from a lifetime of immersion in the natural world and its rhythms."

Both Michael Harlow and Pat White have won many awards and residencies, so suffice it to say that we will be honoured to have them lead a conversation about poetry in Geraldine.

Please RSVP. $2 Tickets are available from our store, and all proceeds will be donated to the Geraldine Foodbank. Please indicate your interest and we look forward to seeing you.