‘Now in its fifty-ninth volume, Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2025 continues its legacy as New Zealand’s most vital annual showcase of contemporary poetry. Under the passionate and astute curation of editor Dr Tracey Slaughter, this edition captures the prevailing tone of a restless, interconnected world, anchoring 141 poems from 127 contributors around the haunting, urgent theme of “breath.” Released to coincide with National Poetry Day in August, the 2025 issue is not just a collection but a yearly cultural artefact, a barometer of the country’s poetic pulse.
‘The title “Breath” emerged organically from the submissions themselves, with many poets drawn, consciously or otherwise, to the motif. Here, breath appears as vapour and voice, lifeline and threat. It connects the living, mourns the lost, and resists the forces that choke or silence. Whether referencing climate anxiety, political oppression, or intimate emotional states, breath becomes a metaphor for fragility and persistence.
‘Slaughter’s introduction is a characteristically electric part poetic manifesto, part rallying cry. She emphasises poetry’s power to bear witness, its role in both exhalation and inhalation, protest and restoration. In this balance, the volume finds its own rhythm: anger and tenderness, anxiety and resistance, all held in dynamic tension.’
Read the full review at NZ Booklovers here.
