Alien Buddha Zine

The new Alien Buddha Zine #62 came out in May. How time has flown! I have three poems included, two of which have never seen the light of day. They are The Black Sun and Glow Worm Matariki. The third, Shallow Grave is one of my favourite poems and made its debut in an online journal, Amphora. Somewhere back in the mists of time, Amphora published its third issue, Our Own Mythologies in which the poem featured.

Here, it is born anew and correctly titled. I’m looking forward to reading the publication of Alien Buddha Zine #62! This trio of poems was originally intended for a collection Where in the World is the Alien Buddha? The anthology selected one poet from every country. I threw my hat in the ring as I had not seen any represented from New Zealand. Not as yet. The editor came back to tell me another New Zealand poet had got there before me. His name was just not up in lights. But why not submit to ABZ#62 instead? So, I did.

The First New Zealand Poet

In spite another poet pipping me at the post, I bet I can still safely boast I’m Alien Buddha’s first New Zealand poet. All Revolutions Begin This Way, published in January 2023, preceded the anthology by more than a year. It is unique in its mythic retelling of New Zealand’s gold mining past. As an aside, I am also the first New Zealand poet to have works grace the pages of Flights E-Journal, Hedgehog Poetry Press, The Hooghly Review, and possibly Literary Revelations. The only country yet to publish my oeuvre is New Zealand!

Of course, both Glow Worm Matariki and Shallow Grave have mythic connections with my home country as the reader will discover on opening to page 37 where the poems appear. I won’t let the cat out of the bag just yet! The Black Sun has no direct geographical reference to my place of birth. But its inspiration and esoteric threads are deeply interwoven with my life here.

Alien Buddha Zine #62 is available to buy here.