Author(s): Chris Price

NZ Fiction

Though a first collection Husk is a polished, elegant, mature work; it introduces an original new talent. Chris Price's poems are characterised by witty suprises, sudden unexpected shifts of image, forms of wordplay, neat little jumps from one idea to another. Material comes from a experience as diverse as foreign travel and reading in the byways of scientific knowledge. The vivid sequence "A brief history of automata" draws on odd snippets of information from ancient Egypt and Crete, the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the electronic age. Covering a wide range of interests, themes and tones, there is an alertness, a sense of delight about all these poems. Husk marks the beginning of an interesting career and broadens our understanding of contemporary New Zealand poetry. ++ Winner, New Zealand Society of Authors Jessie Mackay Best First Book Award for Poetry, 2002 ++ Paperback