Tree Space

by Maria McMillan

Tree space is the vast mathematical terrain occupied by ancestral trees of a group of species. Between them the trees, some bushy and some stark, account for all possible ways in which species might relate to one another.

Maria McMillan’s first full collection creates a new, invigorating space in New Zealand poetry. These are poems that refuse to settle, that grow and climb fearlessly into unknowable places within science, personal history, politics and ethics. Language breaks apart and fuses back together. Our edges blur with those of other species, creating a brilliant, shimmering cacophony.

Maria McMillan is a writer, activist and information architect who lives on the Kāpiti Coast. She is also the author of The Rope Walk, a chapbook published as a limited edition by Seraph Press in 2013:

‘These poems restore our sense of the rough, jagged edges of New Zealand, the uncertainty of existence – what is my role here? – and the dearth of solid answers.’ Valley Voice

‘Taut, linguistically striking and thematically inventive, The Rope Walk is a dazzling work.’ Landfall Review Online

80 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2014

Reviews

[Arie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Modern-day saints, summer flies, eerie cherubs, and an enigmatic character named Irena all walk the pages of Tree Space. The poems slip in and out of coherence, shifting from storytelling to more abstract word-weaving. The result is gorgeous.

"All loss is about imagination,
or did I make that up? That
strands of grief, hung in a room
like streamers, are not so awful
in themselves but awful
because they are always there."
(Meditations)

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a lot of poetry does some parts hit you with full force and make you wonder how something can be expressed so perfectly but the majority is just a lot of nothingness. But kiwi female poetry authors I love everything you write and just your presence in the world.