Q & A with Robert Sullivan

Robert Sullivan — (Ngāpuhi, Kāi Tahu, Irish) is the multi award-winning author of Hopurangi—Songcatcher: Poems from the Maramataka (Auckland University Press), which was shortlisted for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry at the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. He has published nine poetry collections, a graphic novel, and an award-winning book of Māori legends for children. A past recipient of the Lauris Edmond Memorial Award, he co-edited Puna Wai Kōrero: An Anthology of Māori Poetry in English, the contemporary Pacific poetry anthologies Mauri Ola and Whetu Moana, and with Janet Newman coedited Koe: An Aotearoa Ecopoetry Anthology. Residing in Ōamaru, he is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Massey University

What draws you to write poetry - and what keeps bringing you back to the form?

Poetry is the language of the heart. It’s soulful. It links the past to the present and to the future. It’s our most ancient form of literature, born at the same time that people began to speak with words, and it needs so little technology while thriving in this new world.

Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day brings poetry into the public realm. What do you think about this kind of poetic visibility - and where would you love to see one of your own poems appear?

I’ve been so lucky over the years to have my poems appear on Phantom Billstickers poetry posters. I’d love to see them outside the schools where I learnt to read and write: Newmarket Primary School, Onehunga Primary School, Royal Oak Intermediate (formerly Manukau), and Auckland Grammar School. I owe so much to the teachers there who gave me a respect for reading and language. They made me believe I could be a writer.

Why do you think a day dedicated to poetry, in all its forms, still matters now?

I’d love to see literature in all its forms become a normal thing in our society, not a special event. Having said that, the reality is that when people hear poetry or read poems, it is often because there is a special focus such as poetry day, and it’s available to the public in a way that it isn’t usually. I’m grateful to be in two events on poetry day, one in Dunedin at the Athenaeum and one at Massey University’s Wellington Campus, plus earlier in the week I’ll be at the Hawke’s Bay Writers’ Festival, and the following week at the Northland Writers’ Festival. It’s wonderful to be a part of these events supported by their brilliant community organisers and volunteers. I’m sure that the energy of Poetry Day contributes to the ongoing demand for poetry in our festivals throughout the country.

What threads or obsessions run through your shortlisted collection, and did anything surprise you as the work came together?

The main thread in Hopurangi is the reclamation of Mātauranga Māori in all its forms. The Maramataka and the celebration of Matariki have raised awareness of Māori star lore, and the many peaceful knowledges associated with wellbeing that the traditional Māori calendar has embedded in it. By building the collection on the Maramataka, and all the different energies of each of the days of the traditional calendar, I discovered that poetry itself is attuned to the natural world and its energies. It helped me to find my father’s Kāi Tahu side of the family, and to better understand our grandmother and where she came from originally while still being proud of being Ngāpuhi and Irish!

Tell us about a poem, poet, or line that’s currently living in your head - and why it resonates with you.

One of my favourite lines from William Blake is “energy is eternal delight.” He was a cosmic poet who was originally spiritual. Another favourite line is from Hone Tuwhare, “Laugh again.” Tuwhare is truly a favourite poet who has influenced my work greatly.

What does it mean to have your collection recognised in this way - and what do you hope readers might take from it?

It’s incredibly humbling to have my work raised up in this way and in such great company. It’s always a boost to share poems with people who love poetry, and this recognition helps me to share my poems with a wider group of interested people. I think people will see in this new collection that family is important, and relationships with friends, relationships with places are part of being a person who believes life is to be shared and appreciated. We are all woven together if only we’d look up to the sky and see our togetherness with arohanui.