Writer Claudia Herz Jardine can be found most days advocating for the city’s poets and writers as well as organising book launches and literary events at Scorpio Books. You can also hear her reviewing books on RNZ.
She spoke to us about what creativity means to her.
How would you describe what you do?
Listing my weekly activities and obligations might be tedious for both the reader and the writer, but I’ll try! Simply put, I am in the business of literature and I advocate for our city’s poetry scene. Most days you can find me at Scorpio Books coordinating book launches and author events. I do a bit of freelance creative writing teaching and event production on the side. At this moment my weekly artistic practice includes writing poetry, reading, teaching at UC, reviewing books for Scorpio and RNZ (occasionally theatre too), making zines, plus some rehearsing or songwriting with my band Goodbye Starlet.
What was your most recent project?
On May 31st Goodbye Starlet took part in the fifth annual Echo Chamber at darkroom, a celebration of the local music scene in which artists cover songs written by other local artists. I worked for many years as a covers musician playing songs in pubs late at night in Pōneke Wellington. It was soul-sapping, so I have strict boundaries these days about playing covers. The great thing about Echo Chamber is that participants are encouraged to recreate the songs in different genres. So, we made a spoken word, lounge jazz style version of ‘F*ck Off’ by punk band Bin Day, a doomy metal rendition of ‘Mad Woman’ by pop artist Phoebe Vic and a jangle-pop take on Aldous Harding’s ‘Leathery Whip’. A few weeks back Goodbye Starlet recorded two songs at SALTBOX Studios so we’re currently giving dear Ben (our bassist and sound engineer) notes every week as we attempt to reach the right mix for the tracks. We aim to tour and release in the spring.
I have also been teaching myself how to do paper découpage so I could upcycle an inordinately fugly ceramic ornament my mother bought for my husband and myself as a housewarming present. It has a photo of us kissing stuck to it now.
What project have you worked on that you’re the most proud of?
I’ve just wrapped up a year-long stint as emcee and producer of Late Night Poetry Hour at Little Andromeda. I was the custodian of the programme while its creator Ray Shipley was overseas. My personal goals for the project were, keep serving the regulars with their monthly open mic and featured poet sets, and cement the show as a production of national significance for poets on tour in Aotearoa. I loved the role, and I loved witnessing the pleasure visiting poets showed during our open mic section (where anyone in the audience can get up and read a poem). At those shows, I was so proud of us!
What is essential for creatives to have in their life?
Friends! My friends show up for me and make my art worth making. If my friends don’t find my jokes funny, I rewrite them. If my friend recommends a book/album/exhibition, I check it out. When I am performing and I see my friends in the audience I feel so grateful that I am not doing this alone, and someone in the crowd will have my back no matter what. When I am out of puff, I look at what my friends are making and I marvel at their talents and am inspired by their willingness to share what they can do. In the same heartbeat, enemies are essential for creatives too. Never underestimate the generative power of spite! Even if your enemy is an object like, say, a double cab ute- or an institution, like a certain country’s government.
What inspires you about Ōtautahi?
Aesthetically, I am inspired by our location on the ledge of an ancient volcano, beside the ocean, in a swamp at the foot of the mountains. We are surrounded by striking profiles, and the sky here is just so massive. On a personal level, I am inspired to make art by our big village vibes. In this arts scene, anything feels possible because there is no mainstream. Artists here are DIY-ers, and it feels to me like more risks can be taken because audiences are so keen to try new stuff.
What piece of advice about your creative work has served you well?
One of my creative writing teachers back at Te Herenga Waka, Harry Ricketts, told me never to let a line ending in a poem go to waste by ending on a connecting word (like a preposition or conjunction), unless you are doing so for effect. Leave the reader with something more vivid. I think about this advice every time I am working on my poems. In a similar vein of basic but solid advice, Helen Charlton, my singing teacher from my high school days, would remind me to breathe deeply in the moments before my cue to sing, and relax my shoulders and forehead. Such great, grounding advice! No artist I’ve ever met has said to me, “Gee, I wish there was more tension in my shoulders.”
What’s the biggest misconception about your creative work?
In the months before my 2023 book BITER was published, I went to my favourite book stores in Ōtautahi to give them a sneak peek of the advance copy, and to see if I could drum up their interest in stocking my book. One bookseller, I remember, held the book in their hands, turned it over, turned back to the front cover, and said, “This will never sell.” On good days, and with more bookselling experience under my belt, I wonder if they meant, “My customers (whom I know well) will not be interested in this book.” On bad days, I think to myself, “My book got reprinted, sh*thead!” Sure, I am no Catton or Chidgey, but BITER sold well for a debut collection. And then there’s Tayi Tibble, who went and had SEVEN reprints (so far!) of her first book Poūkahangatus. Perhaps the biggest misconception about being a poet is that writing a collection takes less time and effort than writing a work of prose. I dream of an Aotearoa in which poetry books sell as well as novels. This dream will require readers and booksellers to get on board.
What Christchurch creatives do you most admire?
Lily Wenmoth, the jeweller behind Mothmade Jewels, I most admire for not only her clarity of purpose, but also her political spirit. She has been a driving force behind the Art for Palestine shows, which have raised over $20,000 to help families in Palestine affected by the genocidal actions of the Israeli Army. She is leaving us for Naarm soon, and I will feel the loss greatly!
Isla Huia‘s poetry constantly astounds me. I look at the vulnerability and wisdom she crafted into the poems of Talia and I think of how grateful I am to be able to hear her read in person on a semi-regular basis! Ray Shipley can always make me laugh, and seeing how they manage an audience when emceeing makes me wish it were more socially acceptable to always be taking notes in a tiny notebook like a frantic detective on the case. I was pleased to see Morrin Rout made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to the arts this year. Morrin’s appetite for literature and her community-focused spirit is something special to behold! Tusiata Avia and her art will always be so important to me. She taught me almost everything I know about poetry in performance, and I admire her for the way she has stood up to those who would try to bully her into silence. She writes poetry with politics while keeping her audience in stitches. We are so lucky to have her in our midst.
What artwork/piece of music/performance has taken your breath away?
The recent JMO Theatrics production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar performed with just three cast members! This rocked so hard, and I was thrilled to learn that there is so much appetite for the show- it has toured to Dunedin and is going to Auckland! I have strong opinions about theatre and even stronger ones about Shakespeare, but this production did it for me. In terms of artwork, I saw an exhibition called Phosphene by Angela Lane at City Gallery Wellington a few years ago, and I am still thinking about it! Lane’s paintings were all of phenomena. I am a big fan of omens and augury and am therefore still under the enchantment of that exhibition. It also really made me want to play The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
What do you wish you’d have known about creative work when you were younger?
There is no official threshold of skill you have to reach before you can book a tour and play shows in other cities. Also, no one is going to book that tour for you! A performance is worth ten rehearsals, just get out there and book them.
What book do you wish you’d written?
Serious Concerns by Wendy Cope. I recommend it to everyone, especially the poem ‘Men and Their Boring Arguments‘.
If you could host a dinner party for five writers – dead or alive – who would be at your table and why?
I will take this opportunity to meet my idols, thank you! And because it is hypothetical, they will surely be in a good mood and as eager to meet me as I them. Anne Carson, Wendy Cope, Lauren Groff, Sappho (Carson could translate for her) and Toni Morrison! Carson, because she is the author I admire the most in the whole wide world and from whom I derive a lot of inspiration and recklessness. Cope, because she seems like she would be fabulous, funny company and we could complain about a lot together and she wouldn’t judge. Groff, because her novels are so excellent and her brain is incredible. I met her in person at AWF last year and she was so kind! Sappho, because I have got love, and I have got questions and would like to take this opportunity to find out more about life in the ancient world. Morrison, because I love her books and want to know if she really does hate the musical Hamilton and if so, let’s dish the dirt on that please.
Place you love best in Christchurch?
Te Onepoto Taylors Mistake. Best beach, best waves. And, um, please don’t judge, but I love going to Scorpio Books whether I am working or not. My next tier of favourite places includes Little Andromeda Theatre, darkroom, Space Academy (especially if Pizza Trap is open!), The Christchurch Art Gallery (very obsessed with their new Yona Lee fountain), Grizzly Baked Goods (all locations) and The Terrace to see the tuna under the platform by the river. If I’m in a bougie mood, I go for a window shop at Frances Nation and then end up spending my money at The Custard Square Bookshop. I would also like to take this chance to shout out to the op shops in Sydenham. City Missions on Buchan Street, St John and SPCA on Colombo, ReStore on Waltham Road, you rock my world.