The Search

The Search brings together a collection of ‘lost’ poems and two stories unearthed from Mark Pirie’s early folders, notebooks and journals (mostly handwritten and written between 1993-1996). Together they form an interesting collection showing his early experimentation with form and style towards his own unique and prolific voice in contemporary

New Zealand

poetry. The Search poems usher in the influence of new generational movements like Grunge and hip hop as well as older influences. Most of the subjects of the early poems involve Wellington and to complement the poems Pirie has added a section of new poems about Wellington and black and white photographs of Wellington city and street scenes by Paekakariki photographer John Girdlestone. Many of Wellington’s well known street people and personalities feature in Pirie’s poems, including elegies for Robert Jones, Paddy O’Dowd and a tribute to busker legend ‘Kenny’. This book will be of interest to people who have travelled to or lived in Wellington over the last decade, and can relate to many of the memories and places mentioned in the poems.

Mark Pirie was born in 1974, in Wellington, New Zealand. Work includes the anthology of young New Zealand writing, The NeXt Wave (University of Otago Press, 1998), the short story collection, Swing, and 14 poetry collections, including Shoot, Reading the Will, The Blues, Dumber, Wellington Fool and London Notebook. A new joint collection Sounds of Sonnets (with Michael O’Leary) has recently appeared from HeadworX. From 1995-2005, he edited and co-founded the literary magazine JAAM (Just Another Art Movement). His new and selected poems, Gallery, was published by Salt Publishing, Cambridge , England . He runs the small press HeadworX in Wellington and organises the popular Winter Readings series in Wellington with Michael O’Leary.

Sample poem

Downtown Notes, on paper

(For Tony Towle)

Walking around

I cut the size of a building

down to size. It’s far

taller than the length of her body, say,

oddly swaying now in the breeze –

That woman, ahead, I don’t know her,

but I wonder, what does she want?

Carrying all of summer in her dress, I follow her, and

envisage a growing winter in her eyes. It’s the Fall,

she leads me to, first, if I pursue her. I enter a shop

there are crowds of people

and they all want, want, want…but even so

I mightn’t have it, and that’s probably what they think,

and all I care for. Right now this ‘song in town’

is looking for direction. I take the side

of the building outside and set it free.

I watch it rise; it looms over me once more

on its way back to the clouds, and from whence it came, initially,

into view. It’s what these people might believe

or want, like a telephone line permanently hanging in the distance,

a disappointing heaven. Meanwhile, a coffee calls.

And I, gladly, take it.

Boxing Day 2006

TITLE               The Search
AUTHOR        Mark Pirie
PUBLISHED    2007
CATEGORY    Poems and stories
FORMAT         Paperback
EXTENT           A5, 200 pages
ISBN                1-86942-084-5
PRICE              NZ $30