Wanaka poets Liz Breslin, Laura Williamson and Annabel Wilson of Poetic Justice Wanaka are putting ‘spokes in the word’ this month. 

The three women will e-bike the length of the Rail Trail, holding spoken word shows at historic halls in five locations along the way: Clyde, Ophir, Oturehua, Ranfurly and Middlemarch. 

The ‘rail:lines’ tour will warm up with an early show in Wanaka at b.effect brewery on November 19.

“Literature and landscape have been shaped by each other in our region,” Laura said, “and this is one of the things we want to celebrate with this tour.”

No two shows will be the same, so people can buy tickets for one show or a tour pass. At each stop, different local voices and stories will be added to the mix.

To further celebrate the region, Poetic Justice Wanaka have teamed up with The Film Crew to make a film of the tour, showcasing the histories of the old halls that are being lost to strengthening, modernisation and the economic challenge of the post-COVID environment. 

They also hope to promote and demonstrate the viability of touring an emissions-free arts project, to highlight the strength of the poetry community in our region, and to increase the visibility of women’s poetry stories documented on film. 

Annabel Wilson is the award-winning author of poetry collection Aspiring Daybook, and her work has appeared in New Zealand journals and overseas. She also runs the arts, culture and adventure guide OnMag.

Editor of 1964 magazine, Laura Williamson is also co-writer of The Blue Moments Project song and spoken word cycle. Her work has been featured around the world and her first book is The Bike and Beyond: Life on Two Wheels in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Liz Breslin’s first collection of poems, Alzheimer’s and a Spoon, was published by Otago University, was listed as one of the NZ Listener’s Top 100 books. She writes plays, stories, reviews, and articles, as well as a fortnightly column for the Otago Daily Times. 

Following the Wanaka event, the tour will head to Clyde (November 20), Ophir (November 21), Oturehua (November 22), and Ranfurly (November 24). It will finish in Ōtepoti on November 25.

Tickets can be found by searching rail:lines at the Eventfinda website.

PHOTO: Supplied