Yurt Sonnets (2023)

The debut collection of poems by New Zealand author Gus Hellen, written during a Taranaki winter spent house-sitting a vacant yurt.

20 sonnets arising from a more intimate relationship with the landscape and the elements. Barely separated from the howling southerly and winter frosts.

Sonnets? An echo from the past, the sonnet is somewhere between a postcard and a haiku. One page, 14 lines, packed full of imagery and feeling, with no room for anything extra or spare. 

These sonnets are deeply ecological, geographical and historical. Describing the changing landscape of Taranaki, the shadowy past of Aotearoa, and the continual attempt to live lightly and honestly in this place.

Written, designed and printed in Aotearoa.

Cover design by Moha Winders, Katie Watt and Reed Taylor.