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kōtare's avatar

I saw Sam Hunt getting on a bus in Nelson once and I was star struck. He had long hair and one of those 1980s thread earrings- completely utterly uncool cool. I brought a book of his recently in paper plus for $2 - and it made me realize how much we absolutely undervalue our kiwi poets.

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Dan Keane's avatar

You saw him in the wild?? How cool. He always seems to love not just poetry but *playing the poet,* with a sincerity I totally agree is so cool it's not cool, or so not cool it's cool? Just Sam, bless him. I had fun reading this one again more closely. NZ's got a lot of poetry action happening, but yes, they're undervalued as everywhere!

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Archives Rock's avatar

I do hope the Gods of Metlink and Kiwi Rail are in your favour. They've been having a terrible sulk lately, resulting in a godawful bus trip instead 😞

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Dan Keane's avatar

Thanks! I hope dearly so. It is harder, though not impossible, to squeeze a poem out of a 'bus replacement.' Fingers crossed!

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Deborah Coddington's avatar

Did you get copyright permission to reproduce this? The reason I ask is because I’m publishing a book in which this poem is reproduced. Sam owns copyright, so I got and paid for permission to reproduce it. I’m pretty sure the same rules apply on a platform.

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Dan Keane's avatar

Hi Deborah! No, I didn't. I should have! I just copied it out (lovingly!) from my copy of Big Weather. Best practice is to ask. Do you know where I can reach him, or his agent?

I wonder what the rules are here, or should be. Unlike a book, this post is free to the public. I do offer paid subs, but without paywall it's just a koha? I don't know. Sticking to an excerpt could have counted as fair use, but this one's so much better whole. I figured whatever free public celebration I could give the man's work was worth the stretch. Maybe I'm wrong. I mean him no harm, obviously, and would love to reach out to him!

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Brad Weekly's avatar

I'll get my arse there one way or another, Metlink be damned.

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