This portrait by her then husband Michael Smither dates from 1972, when Elizabeth Smither was in her early 30s. This was three years before her first book of poems, Here come the clouds, which established her distinctive style – short, tight, witty poems. Elizabeth Smither has also published several impressive novels. Listen to her reading a poem from 2006, 'Two security guards talking about Jupiter'.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Hocken Library, University of Otago
Reference:
Acc. No: 4229079/49
Artwork by Michael Smither
Permission of the Hocken Library Uare Taoka o Hakena, University of Otago, must be obtained before any re-use of this image. Further information may be obtained from the Library through its website.
Sound courtesy of Best New Zealand Poems (International Institute of Modern Letters); poem courtesy of Auckland University Press (Elizabeth Smither, The year of adverbs. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2007): painting courtesy of Michael Smither
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