Wellington underground poets

The Wellington underground poets comprised an influential poetry movement based in Wellington, New Zealand.

Wellington underground poets not only considered the poetry of the established literary hierarchy ("literati") to be nepotistic and mediocre, but many considered that such work was not poetry at all but instead was "academic masturbation". (Capital Times, 9 November 2005). The fact that some trivialised the work of the movement as merely being Performance poetry without being aware of its breadth and depth heightened the disregard of many for the literati.

The Wellington underground poets saw themselves as the true carriers of the torch and recognised that the most vital role of the artist was to be a visionary who challenged both the state and society. They understood that whether a poet was published or not published in mainstream literary media in New Zealand did not depend upon one's talent or ability, but was a matter of whom one knew or did not know amongst the literati; a matter of whom one had offended and not offended; and a matter of with whom amongst the literati one had slept. (Paraphrased from speech by Darryl Ward to Porirua Community Arts Council's public meeting about arts policy for general election candidates, November 1999).

The movement was fluid, but the most influential members included Alex Staines, Darryl Ward, Andrew Allan, Frank Edwards, David Douglas, Mike Eager, Julia Craven, Kerri Doherty, Kari Lloyd and Nikolien.

Members gave regular performances in various Wellington venues, including Victoria University of Wellington, Brunswick Arms, Kings Cross, Antipodes and Bar Bodega. Performances often included music and multimedia. Members contributed to a variety of touring ensembles such as Poetrycorp and various collections and anthologies were published. Wellington underground poets' work appeared in anthologies including "Kings Cross Pub Poets I" (1985), "Kings Cross Pub Poets II" (1988), "Kiwi Stuff Kia Kaha" (1991) and the "Bards Bodega" magazine (1996-1997).

It is noted that the regular Thursday night performance poetry sessions "Kiwi Poets Pub" at the Antipodes Bar, Cuba Street hosted by David Douglas in the early 1990's helped further public recognition for many of the underground poets and the anthology of these performances "Kiwi Stuff Kia Kaha" (1991) compiled by David Douglas with cover illustration by Gerard Molloy featuring the poems of Kerri Doherty, Darryl Ward, Mike Eager, Alex Staines, Gerard Molloy, David Douglas, Frank Edwards et al. had enduring popularity. A notable poem featured in this anthology, David Douglas' "Bourgeios Woman" with it's reference to the impact of Rogernomics on contemporary female values was iconic for it's time. Poetry books written by members of the movement include 'Warning' by Alex Staines and Mike Eager, published by Rush Hour Press (1990) and 'Making Tracks' by Darryl Ward, published by Count Geoffrey Potocki de Montalk, The Printing Press on the Parade (1985).

The name "Wellington underground poets" was not used during the peak of the movement, but came into use later, however the movement was still clearly recognisable in its heyday. It is difficult to precisely date the movement, but its genesis has been traced to both the arrival in Wellington of Alex Staines and Darryl Ward in the early 1980s and the collaboration between the latter and Count Geoffrey Potocki de Montalk around the same time.

It reached its creative peak some time around the early to mid 1990s and its influence continues to this day.