Kathleen Gallagher on being a poet, staying attentive and slowing down

Some interviews are like little jewels that I’ve somehow uncovered while walking along the beach.  Today is one of those as I speak with the poet Kathleen Gallagher.  Kathleen has written plays, poems, novels as well as done 7 feature films.  In this interview we talk about her childhood, the creative writing process, how she writes, being attentive and in the moment and her recent novel Inangahua Gold.  Merry Christmas 2018 to all!

http://www.wickcandle.co.nz

Her most recent novel 'Inangahua Gold' is available and is very much worth picking up - you can order it via the website above.

Finding jewels

Some conversations are like jewels
Found, unexpectedly, on a rocky beach
A West Coast beach full of grey rock
that has been buffeted by wind, rain, waves
and over time perfectly formed
coloured stones into smooth objects of desire.
They are often buried, seldom on the surface.
The secret to find them? Come closer,
for I only whisper this answer.
It is lost in the wind to many.
You need to be attentive and present.
Be in the moment and aware, looking out
Not rushing from this here to another there
to find these jewels you must open your eyes
and really see what is around you.
Breathe deep. Look to the old language.
Aroha. Love.
Wait. Ponder this. Break it down more.
Aro means to notice
Ha means to breathe
So be attentive to each breath.
Be present, seek out peace
The guidance is written there
in the words themselves.
This is the antidote to our
stumbling from person to person
our interactions shallow, casual.
Seldom seeking the deepest questions.
Too busy with the trivial and mundane to ask:
Who are you, what formed you
and how can we help each other, my friend?
Yes, our conversation was all this.
A rare gift given
A jewel
Aroha

I'll go look for more.

 

"Kathleen Gallagher is a poet, playwright, filmmaker and novelist. She received the New Zealand Playwrights Award in 1993, and the Sonja Davies Peace Award in 2004 for the film Tau Te Mauri Breath Of Peace. She has authored three collections of poetry, 16 plays, six feature films, and one novel. Her films Earth Whisperers Papatuanuku, Water Whisperers Tangaroa and Sky Whisperers Ranginui, have played in cinema and film festivals throughout New Zealand and around the world.

Her most recent work is the novel Earthquakes & Butterflies - Otautahi Christchurch launched in Christchurch on September 2015, on the 5th anniversary of the beginning of the Christchurch earthquakes sequence (2010 - 2012)."