Introduction
Where does the contemporary long poem locate itself in physical and digital space? How do we present long forms to each other in the round and on the web? The New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre (nzepc) and visiting American poet Rachel Blau DuPlessis hosted two days of talks and performances at the University of Auckland 29 - 30 March 2012 culminating in a long poem collaboration on Oneroa beach, Waiheke Island.
We were interested in short long poems and long short poems; in epic and seriality; in the book-length or site-specific poem. We wanted to be surprised, diverted and delighted by what our speakers would bring to points of exchange before, during and after the symposium.
We asked for alternative presentational forms such as posters, collaborations, combinations of poetry and poetics, short critical rubrics, audio or visual or audio-visual works, lists, scores, and heuristics. Presenters were free to perform or critique part of a long poem, their own or someone else’s, in the fifteen minutes assigned to each presentation.
SHORT TAKES ON LONG POEMS continues the exchange of trans Tasman conversation about contemporary poetry and poetics begun in 2010 with HOME & AWAY. (Auckland and Sydney) and continued in 2011 with Poetry and the Contemporary (Melbourne). We hope the web renditions presented here will stimulate further response and lead to future opportunities for extending our collective knowledge of the local fields which make up an international colloquy.
Michele Leggott, Robert Sullivan and Lisa Samuels
University of Auckland, July 2012

Rachel Blau DuPlessis |

Pam Brown |

Stephanie Christie
& Alex Taylor |

Jacob Edmond |

Toby Fitch |

Bernadette Hall
& Dinah
Hawken |

Ya-Wen Ho
|

David Howard
|

Jill Jones
|

Lucas Klein |

Cilla McQueen |

Philip Mead |

Sam Moginie &
Andy Carruthers |
Ella O’Keefe |

Jack Ross |

Susan Schultz |

Hazel Smith |

Robert Sullivan
& John
Adams |

John Tranter |

Ann Vickery |

Jessica Wilkinson |
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Some responses to SHORT TAKES ON LONG POEMS
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