Dear Neil Roberts, by Airini Beautrais (VUP, October 2014)
Neil
Airini Beautrais is a award-winning poet, who in this book has written a kind of speculative, biographical documentary about Neil Roberts, the young punk anarchist who blew himself up at the doors of the Wanganui Computer Centre in 1982. It's a surprising book, reflecting considerable period research, and it carries quite an emotional punch, as well as being politically relevant in these times of mass surveillance. This will appeal to a non-poetry audience, really, this is current affairs, told in verse. Brilliant stuff!