Read NZ Q&A with Kate De Goldi and Susan Paris
Q1: What’s the thinking behind this great new project?
We noticed there was very little poetry being published for younger readers. Original, contemporary poems for kids, written by our own, just didn’t seem to be a thing — other than in the School Journal. Given New Zealand’s small but energetic poetry scene, this felt like a loss. No one was considering the next generation of poetry readers (and arguably, the next generation of poets) and how they were being fed. So there was that, but also the form has so much to offer younger readers. It made sense to make the most of such fertile territory. Once we started commissioning, the book came together with such ease. We took great heart from this for practical reasons, but it also felt like confirmation that we were on to something. The structure had a lot to do with our early confidence. The work was commissioned to loosely reflect the school year, and it’s also arranged by term — an approach that helped us trust Skinny Dip would be topical and relevant.
Read the full Q&A here.
