Poet polymath

Wellington-based Anna Jackson is transported by the mundane and the miraculous.

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Award-winning poet Anna Jackson is an associate professor in the School of English, Film, Theatre and Media Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. She has written eight collections of poetry and several works of nonfiction. Her latest release is Terrier, Worrier (Auckland University Press). She shares her many literary loves and inspirations, and admits to one skill she would like to have.

When were you happiest?

Listening to Elizabeth Knox and Francis Spufford talking about ghosts and the afterlife at a writers festival event in Wellington once.

What's the best gift you've ever given?

Apart from Momo, my daughter's cat, probably the Opposites and Cheating book I made for my friend Phoebe. She laughed at me once about all the things I define as cheating, and I laughed at her for her obsession with opposites (“What is the opposite of an umbrella?” Um, why?). So, I collected up every instance of anyone talking about cheating or opposites for a year and made a book. Do you want a copy? I posted a file on my website you can download.

What is your most treasured possession?

Do hens count as a possession? After my hens, it would be my friend Holly Aitchison’s portrait of the late Rufy, my very beloved and much missed cat.

What was the last book you read?

Checkout 19, by Claire-Louise Bennett, a book about reading but mostly just a book written by Claire-Louise Bennett, whose every sentence is a strange and wonderful event.

What is your favourite book?

A Long Way from Verona, by Jane Gardam, a book I have loved since I was 12.

Who are your favourite writers?