Simon Williamson

On October 16 1999 Simon Williamson, a former Poetry Society Member and winner of theWB Yeats prize, died aged 31, leaving over a thousand poems. On September 29 2002, almost three years later, overlooking the Wellington Harbour in the Michael Fowler Centre, a hundred or so people were privileged to hear readings from Simon's book, Storyteller, published by Mark Pirie of HeadworX.

The launch opened with the wistful call of a whalebone flute, accompanied by waiata of Kapiti's poet-novelist, Apirana Taylor, who flew up especially from Christchurch where he is the current Writer-in-Residence at the University of Canterbury. Mark Pirie, Simon's publisher and editor, then talked about how Storyteller had come into being. Mark described Simon as an 'inspired poet', and was pleased to see the year-long project finally completed (which had initially begun with the help of Simon's friend Nick Laing). Mark hoped that people would now see for themselves the quality of Simon's work. This was followed by a rich collection of readings by poets: Apirana Taylor, Mark Pirie, Alex Staines, Mike Eager, Michael Webber, Jane Matheson and storyteller/actor, Tony Hopkins. Each reader had chosen works they particularly liked and shared facets of Simon's life. The audience learned that Simon had co-founded Poetrycorp (well-known during the late '80/early '90s for its University Orientation and secondary school tours), and that he had written and produced a play and had numerous works of poetry published in Takahe, Southern Ocean Review and JAAM , and particularly in Valley Micropress (thanks to the unwavering support of editor Tony Chad), to mention a few.
In my opinion Storyteller is a must read. It reflects Pakeha writing in Aotearoa which has come of age: confident in its reference to the indigenous Maori culture (Simon as a child lived in predominantly Maori communities), abundant in form and meaning, politically unabashed, unashamed to discuss the ordinary; lastly but not least: rich in reference to our beautiful land itself. Simon's essay on this sort of writing which he termed "Fatpoetry" is published in the appendices to Storyteller. An example is as follows:
Red Rocks Revelation

At Red Rocks where Kupe's daughters
cut grief into their foreheads and breasts
we stride, a man and his dog, the coast;
thousands upon thousands, hounds of the sea
bark then withdraw in flying spray.
Parking up past the lone hut
where Whisky Charlie would crawl
after one binge more than his liver
could handle to recover and offer tea
to those with enough curiosity.
Into the hills where snow south peaks
rise like giant ice creams
at the horizon's dip
resting in tussock and grass
while the wind whips snot from both
our nostrils and boats like children's toys
cartoon their way into the Pacific.
There was no need to shout
our name or God's: the hills understand
the Atua of this land as lofty as Calvary
herself; they look upwards for a sign
to break the sky and split the earth like firewood.
Arm to arm, this God was spread and nailed,
hammered these hills, kneaded them from dust,
breathed and our kind rose
from the Earth.
At Red Rocks my blood sighs —
Free at last!
The tragedy, besides the briefness of Simon Williamson's life, was that his "Fatpoetry" was a celebration of Freedom which was not in fashion in the corporate '90s with its repressive New Right political regime. Most poetry publishers in this decade preferred (perhaps for their safety's sake), what I call "stainless-steel poetry". In contrast to "Fatpoetry" this was poetry that is minimalist, designed consciously with clearly defned controlled lines, tending to the impersonal with emphasis on reflecting surface forms only.

The launch finished two hours later , with a closing toast by Apirana with waiata and flute and thanks to Mark Pirie for his exceptional effort in putting this "incredible book" (as described by Hamesh Wyatt in the Otago Daily Times) together.

Jane Matheson

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