NICK WILLIAMSON grew up in Takapuna on the North Shore of Auckland. He has lived most of his adult life in Christchurch, where he works as a probation officer. His first book of poetry, The Whole Forest, was published by Sudden Valley Press in 2001.

Of “Broken Light” Williamson says: “In the mid-90s I was drawn to write about my childhood at Takapuna and my relationship with my father. We lived in an old house, several stories high, that was near the cliff just south of Takapuna Beach. The foundations needed re-blocking and as a consequence the upper story swayed alarmingly when strong winds blew in from the Hauraki Gulf. The house was demolished soon after we left it in the late 60s. The poem is based on an actual incident, when I broke a street light with a shot from a home-made catapult. Buffalo grass is a coarse grass that grows in the north of New Zealand.”

 

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