Remember Me : Poems to Learn by Heart from Aotearoa New Zealand

‘To remember a poem is to carry it with you always – the poem a distillation of thought, feeling, sound. To remember a poem is to go freely, without your keys, your bag, your baggage, yet to possess a valuable taonga. It’s the ability to speak a poem out loud, to yourself, to the air, to your folks. There’s a reason we say ‘off by heart’ when we commit words to memory: to remember a poem is to hold that poem close to your heart.’ – from the introduction by Anne Kennedy

In haka and waiata, sea shanties and ballads, in the words of Sam Hunt and Selina Tusitala Marsh, Hone Tuwhare and Hera Lindsay Bird, the rhythms of poetry have carried our sounds and stories, our loves and losses for generations. Now Anne Kennedy brings together for the first time a selection of over 200 poems from Aotearoa to learn by heart – whakatauki and odes, poems of love and of nature, of whanau, history and politics.

For a wedding, a tangi, for a day at school or an evening at home, Remember Me will be a lively poetic companion for years to come.