Niamh Hollis-Locke

@niamhvh-l

Poet, writer, editor, too many hobbies-haver, etc. Shortlisted Ginkgo Prize, Heroines Prize. Writing a book (very slowly). UK born, Aotearoa-based, holder of slightly too many English degrees. Enjoys a good walk.

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Bluesky

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Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· 8d

Pleased to have a new #poem out in the world today thanks to Circular (who I believe are not on here yet). I'm quite happy with this piece, and I hope you like it too. Read the full issue online here: www.circularpublishing.co.nz/issues/rewind #📚

A screenshot of a poem printed in a magazine.The poem is titled: "Look, kid, no one gets out of this one alive (revolving doors, trapdoors)".

The text of the poem reads:
"The face in old photos is
no longer a mirror; teenagehood
shrinking in the rear-view like a stranger, or a friend
you see only rarely these days, only online
when a birthday reminder pops up spurring the annual exchange of pleasantries like
a tennis rally or
a flurry of small migratory birds*
/ a stranger

with a box of Radiohead CDs and a string of regrettable
haircuts. If a tree falls in a forest but
you are not there, who are you
when you are alone? Objects
in the mirror may be closer than they appear / inside of you,
a set of Russian nesting dolls wears
all your old glasses –

the eyes do not change.

⸻

*Fewer every winter"

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· 10d

Geonet has an 'unnoticeable quake' at 7.53pm, with a prelim. mag of 5.8 up towards the Kermadecs - quake drums show something decently large that way as well. Certainly not unnoticeable! #eqnz

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jul 11

I am once again asing Don McGlashan whether 1994 Mutton Birds banger 'Anchor Me' is based on Ariel's song from The Tempest (note overlap in phrases, imagery, and rhythm - Imo it goes beyond simply lifting "full fathom five")

Screenshot of Ariel's song, from William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. The song reads:
"Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands:
Curtsied when you have, and kiss'd
The wild waves whist,
Foot it featly here and there;
And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear.
Hark, hark!
Bow-wow.
The watch-dogs bark.
Bow-wow.
Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting chanticleer
Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow.

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them—Ding-dong, bell."

Screenshot of the lyric to 'Anchor Me', by NZ band The Mutton Birds.
The lyrics run:
"Full fathom five
Someday I'll lie
Singing songs that come
From dead men's tongues
Anchor me, anchor me

As the compass turns
And the glass it falls
Where the storm clouds roll
And the gulls they call
Anchor me, anchor me, anchor me

Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me, anchor me
Let the salt spray lash
The shivering skin
Where the green waves crash
And the whirlpools spin
Anchor me, anchor me, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
Where the Banshees cry
And the bells they sound
When you lift me high
When you pull me down
When you pull me down
When you pull me down
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me, anchor me
Anchor me, anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, your deep blue sea
In the middle of your deep blue sea, your deep blue sea
Anchor me, anchor me
Anchor me
Anchor me
Anchor me"

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· May 3

Went deep into the OIA documents for this one - all of this is publicly available information, so here's your regular reminder that Paul Goldsmith intervened and told Te Papa to take the spray-painted panel in the treaty exhibition down ASAP

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· May 3

In what universe is this a) accessible, and b) enough information to clear up any of the issues with the rest of the exhibition?

A picture of two free-standing signs in a museum. The signs are partially obscured by a stack of folding chairs, blocking part of them from view

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· May 2

Kia ora Wellington - if anyone has a copy of TE WAKA HOURUA, WHĪTIKI, MĀTIKE, WHAKATIKA! (5ever books) that they're able to lend me TODAY please let me know! I am writing a paper (left it a bit late because adhd + chronic illness) and I have been unable to track down a copy 😖 #kikorangi

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Apr 30

Winston Peters in the coalition group chat at this point, probably #nzpol

An image of a string of text messages. The messages have been edited to read "snap election tonight queen??" and variants of the same.

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Apr 10

(Bought a little handlebar bag today so my puncture kit, mini hand-pump, multi-tool, & gloves are all in one place)

A version of the Bernie Sanders "I am once again asking" meme. The text has been poorly-edited to read "I am once again buying things for my bicycle".

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Mar 27

Indeed

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Mar 9

It's oddly difficult to find works by the big 20th century British poets in NZ. I've been looking for a copy of any of Edwin Morgan's works for 2 years now - finally found a 2ndhand copy at Hard to Find (name proving apt) Could've ordered in from the UK but I prefer my books to have low airmiles

A bird's-eye-view photo of a book sitting on a table. The book is 'Collected Poems' by Edwin Morgan. The cover features a series of circular astrological charts in shades of red and yellow over a blue background.

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Dec 2

I've got a new(ish) #poem online now in the first issue of Bloodbath Journal. So pleased this one has found a good home, and excited to see such a well-produced new journal starting up in Aotearoa ❤️‍🔥 #📚 bloodbathjournal.com/things-burnt...

An image of a poem, printed in black text on an off-white background. The author is Niamh Hollis-Locke.
The title reads "Things burnt on the 19th day since your death; or, it is 2am and I am watching your funeral on a YouTube live-stream, the room filling up with blue light and your absence."
The poem reads: "Tonight,
on the wrong side of the world,
I am gathering together all of the things
that you were;

the smell of dog and shoe leather,
a joke which only you laugh at,
and butter on too little bread.
Cake with honey in the afternoon when I get in off the train
from London, grain from your hand for the doves in the
garden and
warm,

living,

alive.

I am building a new body for you
to come home to."

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Sep 11

Felt inspired and made this, Charlie Kirk rot in hell xoxo

An edited still from Twin Peaks Season 3 (The Return). Three men are bending over a body on the ground - the faces of three Mormon leaders have been superimposed on the heads of the men, while the face of Charlie Kirk has been put over the face of the body on the ground. There is a poorly-drawn 'x' over both of Kirk's eyes. A screenshot of a tweet reading "if you die in utah a bunch of disembodied mormon souls appear and feast on you like woodsmen" has been superimposed over part of the image on the left-hand side

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Sep 8

Thrilled to have a new #poem out in the world this week (and my first on NZ Poetry Shelf!) I wrote this two and a half years ago now, when I was last in England. Let me know what you think 🤍 #poetry #ecopoetry 📚 nzpoetryshelf.com/2025/09/08/p...

A screenshot of a poem, in black text on a plain white background. The heading in larger blue text reads "Poetry Shelf Monday Poem: Offerings/Reynard, by Niamh Hollis-Locke".

The body-text of the poem reads:
"At night we leave
scraps out in the garden
for the fox.
I sit in the study with
the lamp off for hours, forehead
against cold windowglass,
willing him to appear –

quiet wanderer,
sharp-toothed ghost,
red coat black in the flat of the moon and

nothing.

Only me,
darkness sitting heavy on the roof of the house,
and the lights of the town down the valley
over the fields
reflecting off the sky."

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Sep 2

Here's some visuals on the cooked "bathroom" situation. Here you can see the untreated decking timbers that serve as the "floor", and the fact that you had to go through the bathroom to leave/enter the house #nzpol Landlord is currently running for wlg city council (12/?) bsky.app/profile/niam...

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Sep 2

- & here's some of the black mold I had to scrub off of the wall (note the incredibly dodgy job of the wall socket there, love that! There was some potentially very illegal stuff going on with power too...). The clear patch on the skirting board was the bit I'd cleaned before taking this pic (11/11)

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Sep 2

OKAY coming in with some receipts for this - here's a screenshot showing date and time from a message thread with a pic of a mouse emerging from under the oven (we also saw the on the kitchen bench, on the table eating stuff from the fruitbowl, and in the bedroom) (8/?)

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Aug 30

It was, in fact, a very nice walk

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jul 23

Struggling to write lately (even poems the last weekish) - seasonal depression joining forces with the regular despair of living in the 21st century - trying to get out of the house to get the words back. 5pm yesterday at the Brooklyn wind turbine - the sky clear as glass, & then cold frost this AM

A photograph of a wind-turbine. The photo has been taken from nearby, looking along a grass-covered ridge at the turbine, which is about 20 meters away and takes up most of the image. The turbine has three blades, and is white but appears a sort of cream colour due to the way it catches the very last light of sunset. The turbine head is in motion - the edges of the blades are ever so slightly slightly blurred (but do not blur together - they are visible individually) Behind it, the background of the photo is mostly clear dusk sky, in a dusty gradient of pale lilac and pink. Hills surrounding a body of water are just visible in the background in the lower portion of the image, but the majority of the background is sky, giving the impression that the turbine and the ridge it stands on is at a much higher elevation than most of the rest of the surrounding landscape. It is clearly winter-time - the air is slightly hazy in the cold, pale way it gets before a frost, and the grass is very short. It is beautiful.

A photograph looking down towards Wellington city (New Zealand) at dusk, from on top of Brooklyn hill. In the foreground the tops of gorse-bushes are just visible along the bottom edge of the image - they appear golden, almost red, due to the light of the sunset which is occuring out of shot behind the photographer (in the opposite direction from where the implied camera was pointed at). Beyond gorse, the city and the harbour, and the distant mountain ranges on the harbour's far side, take up most of the lower half of the image. The city splays out across two peninsulas which stretch in the the harbour on the left, and extend out of shot to the right - the land the city is on appears fairly flat, but this is a perspective trick due to the photograph being taken from a higher elevation. The city is pale, mostly small white buildings and houses which appear tiny from the distance. From the left, the harbour wraps around the land - the water looks cold, almost the colour of concrete due to the time of day, except for a few patches near the middle of the shot where it is a very pale blush pink due to the reflection of the sky. On the left there is a long, low island part way between the city and the land on the other side of the harbour - the island and the land in the distance appear blue. Above the land, the sky takes up the upper half of the photo - it is a gradient of pale pink and orange rising to a washed out grey-blue.

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jul 13

Been less online lately (a sudden burst of inspiration for poems which has been almost overwhelming, many excursions out of the house, a major knitting project, etc.) but I thought I'd pop on to share these two eels I saw in the river yesterday ❤️‍🩹 The first one was a good 1.5m long

A photograph looking down through foliage on to a shallow river, taken from 2 or 3 meters above. The river water is very clear and the bottom is clearly visible, comprised of what appears to be a mix of gravels and clay. The river is framed to the left by dark green foliage which extends out from the bank, and the top quarter of the frame is mostly taken up by large green fern fronds which stretch out across the water. At the centre-left of the image, a dark, shiny eel is resting in the shallows by the bank, its body disappearing out of sight beneath the ferns and its head extending down and to the right toward the deeper water. Its body is thick and sinuous, and it has a small round fin on either side of its body just below its head.

A photograph of an eel in a river, taken looking diagonally down in to the water from no more than half a meter away. The eel extends across the centre of the photo, with its head near the left-hand side of the frame and the tapering end of its body disappearing out of shot beyond the right-hand border. The eel is resting on the riverbed, which is comprised of pale brown silt and small dark rocks. It is parallel to the riverbank in the shallows right beside it, and its body is a dark brown, almost the same colour as the stones. The water is completely clear, and the eel's left eye is visible.

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jun 26

Only took me a week to get round to this, but as promised here are the balaclavas I have left over from the last lot of knits I sold 🐑 Both are made of merino and mohair yarns, so relatively non itchy. $135 each or best offer. NZ/Aus only, free shipping if you're in Pōneke, message me for details 💌🧶

A knitted balaclava, lying on its side on a white sheet. The balaclava is a warm cream colour, with small flecks of orange, blue, green, and pink dotted across it.

A knit balaclava lying on a white sheet. The main body of the balaclava is knitted in a rich dark royal blue yarn, while the ribbing around the face and neck has been knitted with navy-blue and dusky purple stripes

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jun 17

They're pretty good, even though I do say so myself 🙂‍↕️😇 I try to only use wools and other natural fibres, and make an effort to source my yarn second-hand or from Aotearoa-based yarn makers - all of my patterns are self-drafted (the pointy-ear hat was inspired by pics I saw of one by someone else)

A collection of colourful knitted hats, laid out on a white sheet in a patch of sunlight. The hats are a mixture of hoods, bonnets, and balaclavas, and are knitted in a range of colours including pink, blue, green, purple, white, and lavender. Some have stripes, and one off to the left of the image has a star partially visible on the side.

An image of the head and shoulders of a person wearing a knitted hat. The hat is a bonnet with two pointed bits, like horns or horse-ears, on either side of the top of the head. It is knitted in a dark blue, almost charcoal colour of yarn, and has two long ribbed narrow scarf-like straps which extend out of frame. The person is also wearing large round glasses with dark wire frames, and a top with red and pink stripes on it.

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jun 13

Not only was he putting out a lot of writing during this period, it turns out that Andrew was also a prolific and highly-respected SF artist, styling himself as 'Ames'. In 1975 he was the cover artist for the August issue of Galaxy mag (pillar of golden age SF, & drew a centerfold for same issue 10/

Cover of a science fiction magazine. The magazine is called Galaxy. The cover is very colourful, with an emphasis on bright primary colours (particularly yellow and blue). An image of a futuristic silver plane or flying craft, wheeling above a landscape divided by a red wall which bears a heavy gate and delicate spires reminiscent of minarets, occupies two thirds of the cover. Text in a yellow box above the illustration tells the reader that this issue contains 'Inferno' by Larry Niven and J. E. Pournelle, A. Bertram Chandler's 'Rim Change', a section called "science fact - UFO's and Big Science!", and works by Spider Robinson, Sam Lundwall, David Drake, Hayford Pierce, and Dick Geis.

A black and white drawing for a story. The drawing is oriented landscape. In the foreground on the left-hand side of the image, two men (head and shoulders only) look to the right of the frame, toward a human figure standing with its back to them doing something at a wide table - perhaps some sort of control panel. The two men on the left appear like ancient Greeks - one wears a full-face helmet with a tall comb, reminiscent of Corinthian or Spartan armour, while the other has hair like that in depictions of Alexander the Great and a classically Greek nose. They seem to be upset or angry about the figure at the table. In the background, a colonnade of doric columns appears to form a back wall to the scene.

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jun 13

- while later short stories like Cinema Altéré (1989) would appear in multiple "best-of" anthologies next to work by authors including Joan Aiken, Tanith Lee, Michael Moorcock, & William Gibson (yes, the Neuromancer guy) 8/ www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.c... www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.c...

A science fiction anthology book cover. A humanoid robot with wires sticking out of it hunches and writhes in a red desert under a sickly yellow sky. The name of the anthology is "Fenix", and features the names Andrew Stephenson, William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, and Harlan Ellison on the cover.

The cover of a science fiction anthology book. The title is "Zenith: The Best in New British Science Fiction", edited by David S. Garnett. The text on the cover forms a border on 3 sides around a very late-80s illustration of the bald head and shoulders of what appears to be an android or cybernetically-enhanced human. The illustration is dominated by shades of purple, red, and silver.

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jun 13

His first ever publication was a short story called "Holding Action", which appeared in Ansible in 1971. Within 5 years of this first appearance, Andrew's writing was featuring in anthologies alongside the likes of George R. R. Martin and Harlan Ellison 7/ www.goodreads.com/book/show/49...

The cover of a 1970s science fiction anthology, published by Orbit. The title is "Andromeda", and the cover featured an image of a space station in shades of blue, grey, and yellow.

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jun 13

In his lifetime Andrew published two novels - Nightwatch (Orbit, 1977), and The Wall of Years (Futura, Dell, 1979) - and a graphic novel called Waterloo Sunset (Image comics 2004-5) written in collaboration with comic & storyboard artist Trevor Goring (2000 AD, Gattaca, Watchmen). 4/

The cover of a graphic novel. The cover shows a drawing of a man, shown from the knees up, holding a rifle at his waist and smoking a cigar. The man is dressed in a beat-up shirt and well-worn bomber jacket, and has a pair of goggles on his face. A strange, skinny alien-like creature, about the size of a small cat, with a head reminiscent of a crocodile is perched on his right shoulder. The man is rendered in shades of black and sepia, against a plain white background. His head is overlaid with a crimson red circle, and his torso by bold text of the same colour. The text is the title of the book and the surnames of the authors - "Waterloo Sunset", by Stephenson and Goring. "Waterloo" is in a heavy serif font, while the rest of the text is a more narrow sans-serif.
The design-language is reminiscent of posters for classic cowboy western films, like old Clint Eastwood movies.

A cover for the collected edition of all installments of Waterloo Sunset. It is much like the first image in terms of font and colour, but here the text takes up the top third of the page while the bottom half features a line of figures in sepia tones, some merely shapes without detail, with the outline of London's tower bridge in the distance behind them.

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jun 12

Hi Bsky. Today I want to talk about a forgotten rising-star of 70s UK #ScienceFiction, & a mystery involving lost #DoctorWho storylines that were never filmed (which maybe you can help me solve...) This is a 🧵 about my great-uncle, the author Andrew M. Stephenson, who passed last month. Let's go 1/

The cover of a science fiction novel. The book is "The Wall of Years", by Andrew M. Stephenson. The picture on the cover shows a man wearing Anglo Saxon clothing (a yellow tunic belted at the waist with a sword by his side, and a brown cloak clasped at his neck by a heavy rectangular broach) and a strange gasmask-like helmet, standing in front of a futuristic vista. Behind him, a string of cities enclosed in transparent domes stretch out across a barren, ruined landscape dominated by shades of brown and orange, while behind it all the sky is a concerning shade of yellow. The man's lower body is somewhat see-through, while his torso and head appear solid - there is the impression that he may not be fully there, perhaps fading in or out of that moment in time as we look on.

The cover of a science fiction book. The book is called "De Aarde Voorbij", and it is an anthology containing 3 novels (one per author) by Andrew Stephenson, John Varley, and Terry Practchett, translated in to Dutch. The book cover is a dusty purple, with the title in heavy black block letters and the names of the authors in blue, pink, and taupe.

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jun 12

Do you think I should maybe close some tabs on my phone?

A screenshot showing numbers of active and inactive tabs on my phone's google chrome browser (mobile version). There are 43 active tabs, and 76 inactive (not used for 21 days or more)

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jun 3

No clue what was going on with the line-breaks in this one (2020) as they all seem a bit arbitrary, but the writing itself is at least slightly better

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jun 3

Oh wow, this one SUCKS (early 2019, for anyone interested lol) .... Like why is this even formatted as a poem? Take out the line-breaks and it's just really boring prose, all functional language with no real play to speak of and nothing to say at all. Really glad I got over this period tbh

Niamh Hollis-Locke@niamhvh-l· Jun 1

Who up bidding on David Lynch's used erotica?