Young poet launches her first collection
Chloë McCartan welcomed her son Elliot to the world seven weeks ago and now she is ready to present another new life to the universe.
"Unfurl is my collection of poetry written over a period of about four years and I feel the time is right to get it out there," McCartan said.
"My mother and my aunty also write poetry and they will present some of their own alongside mine to help me launch my work."
McCartan's mother is Aydie Holland, well-known in Whanganui for her talents as a singer-musician, and her aunt is writer Janette Godfrey.
Paige's Book Gallery will host the launch - Unfurl: Mother, Sister, Daughter - A Not Too Long Poetry Reading - on Friday, December 6.
"The full collection is not ready for publication so I'm launching a special edition of selected poems for the Whanganui event," McCartan said.
"I have always enjoyed writing and discovered a love for poetry when I was at high school but it was while studying performing arts in Palmerston North that I realised it can be transformative.
"I took an overdose of medication and although it was quite deliberate, I really had no awareness of being depressed or unhappy.
"It came from somewhere very deep inside."
The experience inspired her to start writing poetry in earnest.
"I remember lying in the hospital afterwards and thinking 'Oh damn', and realising that I had not been in touch with the true workings of my heart and mind.
"I started writing poems about everything, like a really crappy boss I had at my 'hospo' job, and found it really helped.
"Writing poetry became my anchor to the world."
The poems in Unfurl reflect a whole gamut of emotions and while some are about sadness there is also humour and celebration.
"I have read some beautiful books of poetry but it's hard for a reader when all the poems are sad.
"I wanted to explore a range of feelings and I thought about Persephone having to spend time in the underworld but being allowed to live part of her life in the sunlight.
"Her story is really just a metaphor for the seasons and understanding how to live through days that are dark and cold."
McCartan is also a musician, partnered with a musician, and says there are plans to record a covers album of music for children together.
"I feel like I really need to get Unfurl out to the universe now so I can get on with the next phase of creativity in my life."
Aydie Holland's work is clear, often vulnerable, and covers three decades of parenting and relationships.
"I'm primarily a songwriter but most of my songs started as poems," Holland said.
"I found one I wrote about Chloë before she was born and of course I didn't know her then."
McCartan says she loves her mother's writing, which reflects her full and varied life, and also her aunt's work, which is influenced by her love of history and Victoriana.
Two of Godfrey's works have been selected for publication by Massey University and when she is not tending the vast gardens at her Victorian villa, she is writing a history of Fordell.
"The three of us have such a diversity of styles although we are passionate about similar things," McCartan said.
Unfurl: Mother, Sister, Daughter. A Not Too Long Poetry Reading. Friday, December 6, at 5.30pm, Paige's Book Gallery, 60 Guyton St. Free entry, light refreshments.
Liz Wylie
Whanganui Chronicle 30/11/19
