A highlight of 2020 was the publication of How to Be Happy Though Human, a collection of new and previous work by virtuoso poet Kate Camp, which was published in New Zealand, the United States and Canada. Admired by Poet Laureate Dave Eggleton for its “smouldering slow burn, curdled idealism, the salvation army assembly of humorous perceptions” it ranges across eclectic subject matter “like a bumper ride in a fairground, crashing into obstacles, at once jarring and exhilarating”. Wry and deadpan, Camp’s collected works exhibit all of the technical control, musicality and close observational skills for which she has become internationally renowned.

In conversation with poet Bill Manhire, she shares the influences and preoccupations that charge her creativity, reads from her work, and leads some inter-poem banter with Manhire’s Ockham NZ Book Awards longlisted collection Wow.

Supported by Platinum Patrons Mary & Peter Biggs.