Poetry, place and transition : a critical and creative thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Creative Writing at Massey University, New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis uses two methods of investigation — a critical essay and a collection of poetry — to explore ideas of transition in contemporary poetry through the lens of place. The critical essay examines Lynn Davidson’s 2019 collection, Islander, in terms of both theme and technique. It considers themes of family, belonging, ancestry and home and techniques of repetition and echo. It argues that notions of transience and impermanence are manifested in the collection through Davidson’s use of non-places and liminality; places of belonging; change and continuity; and flight and migration, leaving and return. The creative component of the thesis is a collection of my own poems, how we come home, which has been shaped both by lived experience and by the investigation of the critical essay. This collection is also concerned with notions of movement; transience, impermanence and continuity through the lens of place. It is thematically similar to Davidson’s Islander in its consideration of family, belonging and home.