Live Encounters Aotearoa New Zealand Poets & Writers March 2026
Why I write, poems by Jack Ross.
Why I write
I have no idea how to write
a book without violence in it
states the aptly-named
Stephen Hunter
author of Point of Impact
I’m glad to say
that’s not my problem
in my case
writing a book
without a self-questioning
nameless protagonist
hard to distinguish
from the author
intent on working out
some personal trauma
is almost unthinkable
as usual Orwell
puts it most succinctly
his four motives for writing were
1/ egotism
2/ an abstract
love of words & language
3/ desire to feel less alone
4/ political purposes
one once potent in me
has now fallen off
almost to nil
as has three
to tell you the truth
I don’t really want
most people reading my books
but I do enjoy solving
the conceptual problem
of how to put things so clearly
that nobody thinks
you’re even ‘writing’ at all
as for four
I hardly think about it
but perhaps it’s behind
that stubborn sense of duty
that keeps me scribbling
although at times
there seem more reasons to stop
Social media manners
Something about the algorithms
inspires us to send
birthday best wishes
not only to those we know well
and would like to be with
but also those
whose feed
we’ve somehow chanced upon
the etiquette
used to confuse me
I didn’t know whether to thank
people or whether that
would embarrass them
never such innocence again
now I take care
to acknowledge each one
throw in some folksy
reference
add exclamation marks
because if I just stuck to those
who sent birthday cards
the tally would be too depressingly slim
it’s a bit more complex
when it comes to complete strangers
whom I’ve never met
at least to my knowledge
those I just like
I can’t quite bring myself
to thank them by name
you have to retain some sense
of life offscreen
of the actual bar
or classroom
or venue
where we used to hang out
Tekeli-li
I suppose that it’s part of the paradox
of being a collector
of anything
say you mention a book
and the person
you’re talking to asks to borrow it?
in the interests
of the free dissemination of knowledge
you pretty much have to say yes
then you forget
just who it was you lent it to
or they forget who they borrowed it from
unless you’re organised that is
and write it down in your diary
then start the long countdown
after a month or two
you can issue the first reminder
oh did I borrow that from you?
no I haven’t finished it yet
– give it back!
I want to shout
on one occasion
I actually bought a new copy
and gave it to a colleague of mine
to stop her asking
to borrow my book again
for the umpteenth time
most times the animosity starts quickly
I deserve it
so much more
so how could you think it belongs to you?
or else it must have been
somebody else who took it
in the case of my Penguin paperback of Poe’s
Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
after many denials
and claims it had already been returned
it eventually came back
with a dented back
and a haunted look
as if it had seen
something akin to
the scoriac rivers that roll
that groan as they roll down Mount Yaanek
in the realms of the boreal pole
Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!
© Jack Ross
Jack Ross is the author of seven poetry collections, four novels, and five books of short fiction, most recently Haunts (2024). He was the managing editor of Poetry New Zealand (now Poetry Aotearoa) from 2014-2020, and has edited numerous other books, anthologies, and literary journals.
He retired from his job teaching creative writing at Massey University in 2022, and lives with his wife, crafter and art-writer Bronwyn Lloyd, in an old Art Deco house in Auckland, New Zealand.
He blogs at http://mairangibay.blogspot.com/.