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A Day Like No Other
Selected poems
Brief Description
James Norcliffe, awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry in 2022, is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most distinguished and beloved contemporary poets. A Day Like No Other gathers poems from his remarkable career, which includes eleven collections spanning nearly four decades. Often...
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See moreJames Norcliffe, awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry in 2022, is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most distinguished and beloved contemporary poets. A Day Like No Other gathers poems from his remarkable career, which includes eleven collections spanning nearly four decades.
A Day Like No Other brings together the finest poems from James Norcliffe, one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most distinguished and beloved contemporary poets, and winner of the 2022 Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry.
Spanning nearly four decades and eleven acclaimed collections, this beautifully curated volume captures Norcliffe’s distinctive voice: conversational yet profound, witty yet deeply perceptive. His poems move effortlessly through the seasons of life, environmental, domestic, and political, offering clarity, warmth, and insight at every turn.
With an eye that ranges from the cosmic to the close-at-hand, Norcliffe illuminates the peculiarities of our species and our planet, reminding readers that there is always more to the “here and now” than meets the eye. To read his poetry is to feel both sunlight and shadow, joy and unease, in a single, resonant moment.
A Day Like No Other is a beautifully designed celebration of a remarkable literary career. This book is a must-have for devoted fans and new readers alike.
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Description
James Norcliffe, awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry in 2022, is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most distinguished and beloved contemporary poets. A Day Like No Other gathers poems from his remarkable career, which includes eleven collections spanning nearly four decades.
Often conversational in tone – talking (it may seem) of you and me – these poems are perceptive and witty. They ring with clarity as they pay witness to the turn of the seasons, environmentally, domestically and politically. Their range of reference is both broad and local, as Norcliffe sweeps his lens through time and space and, with superb control of focus, zooms in and out on the peculiarities of our species and our planet. The ‘here and now’ is vividly present in every poem, and every poem also quietly insists that there is much more to ‘here’ and ‘now’ than is obvious at first glance. To read a Norcliffe poem can be to feel the sun on one’s face and, simultaneously, a shiver down the spine.
A beautifully designed and artfully curated volume, A Day Like No Other is a fine selection of James Norcliffe’s like-no-other poems. It will be read and re-read for generations, and is a must-have for confirmed Norcliffe fans and Norcliffe newbies alike.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781991348166
Publisher: Otago University Press
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 05 March 2026
Country: New Zealand
Imprint: Otago University Press
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 150.0mm
Height: 230.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 176
About the Author
James Norcliffe is a poet, children’s writer, novelist and editor. He was awarded the 2022 Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry and has published eleven poetry collections, most recently Letter to ’Oumuamua (Otago University Press, 2023). He is also the author of fourteen novels for young readers, notably the award-winning Loblolly Boy series. His first adult novel, The Frog Prince (RHNZ Vintage), was published in 2022. Norcliffe has a long association with the Canterbury Poets’ Collective, takahē, the ReDraft anthologies and Flash Frontier.
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