A Box of Bees

Sexy and funny and sad in turn, A Box of Bees mixes family narratives and the art and science of beekeeping in an engaging, sensual first collection of poetry. These poems juxtapose gentle, sweet pleasures with very real dangers. Other poems tell us of Emily'’s family and of growing up, of her travels and of falling in love; all with fondness, honesty and charm. An assured and confident debut, A Box of Bees won the 2004 Adam Foundation Prize.

'Childhood memories and the routines of beekeeping are interspersed among the incidents of immediate and extended family and the writer’'s own broadening independence. The poems are very assured and a joy to read.' James Brown

Emily Dobson grew up in Kererū, Hawke's Bay. Her parents kept bees, and Emily worked in the holidays at Arataki Honey, a family business set up by her great-grandfather and grandfather. After high school she spent a year living and traveling in Italy, France, Crete, Spain and England. She has a degree in English Literature from Victoria University, and in 2004 completed Victoria'’s MA in Creative Writing, winning the Adam Prize for best folio and the 2005/2006 Schaeffer Fellowship to Iowa University’'s Creative Writing Program.