NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

An independent small press poetry review

NHI independent review
Spin
Owen Bullock
PO Box 13-533
Grey Street
Tauranga
New Zealand
ISSN 0113-8227
Subscriptions: 2 issues $20
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This page last updated: 14th December 2007. 		Spin #47

SPIN is a quality paperback literary journal, edited by Owen Bullock, and published biannually in New Zealand. It is a handsomely-made publication, clearly and attractively formatted throughout, with colour illustrations on both covers (no artwork is included inside this issue). New poetry accounts for the bulk of the material published, with most of the fifty contributors being represented here by one or two poems only. There are also nine short intelligent reviews of new poetry collections, and a page of other titles, including journals received. It is, on these terms alone, a good resource, and an interesting read.

The styles of poetry published here vary considerably. I thought Tony Beyer's two short pieces, ADAM and TITANIA AND BOTTOM almost faultless. Here is a truncated version of the latter poem, which explains how the two characters,

	are each how the other
	imagines the opposite sex

	...

	he has whiskers
	and ticks in his
	nose and ears
	and rude
	mechanical extremities
Similarly, there is a haunting beauty and lingering resonance in the spare lines of Betty Ann Mathews's ABSENCE, while at the opposite end of the spectrum, Ahila Sambamoorthy's two pieces, NEPAL and TEMPLE IN NEPAL are rich and vibrant. Still, as odd as it may seem, one of the most enjoyable pieces in this very pleasing issue, is a review by Bernard Gadd of a hand-made book by Ernest J. Berry, entitled HAIKU WINE. The five poems used to illustrate the review are all charming, and equal to the standard of the journal's best entries. Here is one:
	dawn parade
	old soldiers
	dropping poppies
It is a shame that SPIN appears only twice yearly. But with such strong work in evidence, there is every hope that its readership and its frequency may grow.

reviewer: John Ballam