It was an honour to be asked to edit Best New Zealand Poems 2009, and a pleasure: it mitigated the withdrawal symptoms I'd begun to experience after reading so much poetry for the anthology I edited last year with Andrew Johnston, Twenty Contemporary New Zealand Poets (Carcanet Press, 2009). I missed the dialogue and debate with Andrew, who edited Best New Zealand Poems 2005; I'm in a more exposed position as a single editor. Still, I console myself with the thought that this isn't the last word on New Zealand poetry, it's a partial choice, a tributary of the Best New Zealand Poems river. Read on >