In these poems, rich in understatedly beautiful imagery, two authors, their families and their many ghosts navigate oceans, forests, gardens and houses in New Zealand, Singapore, China, and in dreams. This Paper Boat follows the author as he traces his own history through the lives and written fragments of Iris Wilkinson (aka Robin Hyde), of his parents and their parents. He explores old territories of Robin Hyde's, still dripping with the past - the tide pool at Island Bay with its shrimp and driftwood, the garden at Laloma with its crushed lemon leaves. He listens to the stories of his parents and their parents, the eels and milk, frangipani trees, drains and barbed wire of their childhoods. He remembers a jungle of his own; he searches for ghosts in the water. While stumbling across irreparable fractures between worlds, the author uncovers the permission to have beautiful and imperfect plans. In This Paper Boat, Poet Gregory Kan Traces The Life And Written Fragments Of Robin Hyde, Vivid With Imagery And Impression The Tide Pool At Island Bay And Its Shrimp, The Driftwood And Crushed Lemon Leaves. He Listens To The Stories Of His Parents And Of Their Parents, The Eels And Milk, Frangipani Trees And Barbed Wire Of Their Childhoods. He Remembers A Jungle Of His Own; He Searches For A Friend Gone Astray; He Finds Ghosts. Entwined As Narrative But Reft With Fragments, This Book Examines The Public And Private Rituals Of Institutions, Martial And Medical, And Of Communities, Families And Individuals. With The Irreparable Fractures In Identity And Material, Time And Space, The Author Discovers A World Driven By Its Incompleteness And Constructability. A Paper Boat Is A Fragile But Hopeful Vehicle In Which To Voyage Towards Change And Forgiveness. A rich and fractured first book in which two authors, their families and their many ghosts navigate oceans, forests, gardens, dreams and houses in New Zealand, Singapore and China. This Paper Boat follows the author as he traces his own history through the lives and written fragments of his parents, and their parents, while examining the public and private rituals of institutions.
