Writing Writing Writing

Kay’s favourite ‘quiet’ hobby/interest is ‘writing, writing, writing’!

Kay McKenzie Cooke is a southern Aotearoa / New Zealand writer that I’ve met through blogging and I’m excited for Kay that her fourth book of poetry will be released in June. She’s also been working on a novel over the last decade and I think publication of that won’t be too far away!

She’s an authentic New Zealand voice who tells things as they really are – when describing a pretty creek, for instance, Kay wouldn’t hesitate to mention the dead animal carcass she’d also noticed on the bank. This is why I love her – she describes the NZ that I know and that I’ve known. Not some idealised phony ‘100% Pure’ nirvana.

“Maybe life is just that when it all boils down: a solo-flight challenge.” –Kay McKenzie Cooke

Photo: I was going to show one of Kay’s photos but WP/internet threw a wobbly and wouldn’t upload anything. Instead here’s a tui I’ve posted before, from a lovely mural in Dunedin, NZ where Kay lives. She likes blue, and our native birds, so this’ll have to do!

Kay’s WP blog is Line by Line.

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Challenge Passed with Flying Colours

Yesterday Kay answered all the rest of my questions in her response to my nomination of her for the Liebster Award – a beautiful post that lets us in on some of her personal treasures, and the things that bring her joy and inspiration. Writing isn’t her only creative outlet (she’s shared a delightful and colourful painting she did with her granddaughter when visiting Berlin).

Challenge Accepted, Challenge Completed : gorgeous photos, a poem, a painting, a treasured copy of ‘Anne of Green Gables’. And how can you resist a poem called ‘my little grasshopper plane cannot fly very high’.

Please take a peek, enjoy Kay’s colourful post. It’s a JOY!

n.b. Kay had already answered my first 2 questions in her post  Answering the Call.

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Text by Liz; Exploring Colour (2020)