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11 February 2016
The Transit of Venus has fascinated astronomers for centuries. In 1769 Captain James Cook sailed to the Pacific with a group of scientists to observe the Transit in Tahiti – but Cook had also received secret orders to voyage onwards in search of the fabled ‘Unknown Southern Continent’. It was on this voyage that he made landfall at Tolaga Bay, met the local Māori and initiated the first positive encounter between Europe and Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Nearly 250 years later three German poets flew to the Pacific to join with three New Zealand poets in observing another Transit of Venus. They came together at a gathering hosted by the Tolaga Bay Uawa community that used the focus of this historically significant event to consider how science might make a difference to New Zealand’s future.
In poems presented in both English and German, these six remarkable voices present a fresh series of encounters between Europe and New Zealand and record a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The next Transit of Venus will not be seen until 2117.
Der Venustransit fasziniert Astronomen bereits seit Jahrhunderten. Im Jahr 1769 segelte Kapitän James Cook mit einer Gruppe von Wissenschaftlern in den Pazifik, um den Transit in Tahiti zu beobachten – doch darüber hinaus hatte Cook geheimen Befehl, seine Reise auf der Suche nach dem sagenumwobenen „unbekannten Südkontinent“ fortzusetzen. Auf eben dieser Reise erreichte er Tolaga Bay, traf die dort ansässigen Māori und leitete die erste positive Begegnung zwischen Europa und Aotearoa/Neuseeland ein.
Fast 250 Jahre später flogen drei deutsche Lyrikerinnen und Lyriker in den Pazifik, um gemeinsam mit drei neuseeländischen Kollegen einen weiteren Venustransit zu beobachten. Sie kamen bei einer von der Tolaga Bay Uawa Gemeinde organisierten Tagung zusammen, die die öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit auf das geschichtsträchtige Ereignis als Anlass nahm, darüber zu diskutieren, inwieweit die Wissenschaft die Zukunft Neuseelands verändern kann.
In ihren Gedichten stellen diese sechs beeindruckenden Stimmen - sowohl auf Englisch als auch auf Deutsch - neue, frische Begegnungen zwischen Europa und Neuseeland dar und beschreiben eine einzigartige Erfahrung. Der nächste Venustransit wird erst wieder 2117 zu sehen sein.
Hinemoana Baker is a Wellington poet, musician and teacher. She is the Creative New Zealand Berlin Writer in Residence in 2015–16.
Urike Almut Sandig is a Berlin poet who works with various composers and musicians. She has received numerous awards and scholarships, most recently a scholarship from the Berlin Senate.
Glenn Colquhoun is a poet, children’s writer, and GP. In 2014 he represented New Zealand on the Commonwealth Poets United poetry project which celebrated the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Uwe Kolbe is a poet, translator and lecturer who lives in Hamburg. He has received many prizes and awards, most recently the Heinrich Mann Prize from the Academy of the Arts in Berlin, and the Meran Poetry Award.
Brigitte Oleschinski is a Berlin poet, essayist and performer. She received the prestigious Peter-Huchel-Preis in 1998. She is best known for her poetry collections Mental Heat Control (1990), Your Passport is Not Guilty (1997) and Geisterströmung (2004).
Chris Price is a Wellington poet, nonfiction writer, musician and teacher. Her most recent poetry collection is Beside Herself (2016).
