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2005
Kate Camp is one of the stars of contemporary New Zealand poetry, known for her witty and observant poetry, her entertaining public readings, and her monthly guest spot on National Radio. Beauty Sleep is her third and best collection.
The insomniac asleep
To say that she goes to sleep is not correct.
Sleep comes to her.
It approaches like a hunter on the ice
and disregarding her imploring eyes, clubs her.
It is a plain utterly empty of remorse.
It is a sea made up of salt and only grains of water.
But oh, sleep it its tight trousers is a handsome fellow
faintly ridiculous but with bulges demanding
to be taken seriously.
Yes, sleep treats her bad
like a man in a country song
and it never stays long.
'Imagine a handfull of sparklers all burning at once. That's Kate Camp's poetry.' —Tom Weston, the Press
Kate Camp was born in 1972 and lives in Wellington. She is a poet, prose writer and reviewer. Her first collection of poetry, Unfamiliar Legends of the Stars, won the NZSA Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry. Her second, Realia, appeared in 2001, and her essay On Kissing in 2003. She was Writer in Residence at Waikato University in 2002, and is the voice of Kate's Klassics, with RNZ's Kim Hill.
