Q & A with Bill Nelson

Bill Nelson grew up in South Auckland and currently resides in Pōneke Wellington. In 2009 he won the Biggs Family Prize in Poetry from the International Institute of Modern Letters. His published works include Root Leaf Flower Fruit (Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2023), a finalist for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry at the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, and Memorandum of Understanding.

What does poetry mean to you and why is it important?

It’s the art form that gets closest to my inner brain. It bypasses the filters, the logic and cyncism, and gets really close to the part that does the fighting and flighting. It’s my deep-tissue brain massage.

Why does Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day matter?

Because poetry is language at its most exciting and uninhibited and bonkers and poetry day is great way to get poetry like that in the faces of more people.

How would you describe your kaupapa as a poet?

Make it entertaining and then make it more entertaining. If I laugh or cry or throw it down in a rage, then it’s working. Other than that almost anything goes.

What poetry are you reading and loving right now?

I’m not reading it yet, but James Brown has a new book coming out soon and I’m 100% certain it will be the thing I am reading and loving.

Have you discovered new poets or new poems on one of Phantom's poetry posters? How do you feel about getting poetry out to the community in this way?

I love coming across a poem plastered across a building site or a bus stop or whatever, especially if the poem is speaking to that place. Years ago, I read a Hinemoana Baker poem in a crowded bus stop that blew my mind off.

What did you enjoy most about writing your Ockham shortlisted book?

It was a blast writing the first drafts, finding that the story just kept coming and one idea led to another. And then the editing and rearranging. It was like a giant jigsaw puzzle. So much fun.