Beynon, Claire

Claire Beynon

Contents

Aotearoa NZ Poetry Sound Archive (2004):

CD03

1. The Mystery Sonatas
2. Poem For a Dying Fish
3. About Blue
4. Jade
5. United Nations – domestic-style.
6. Out For Dinner
7. Consider …
8. There is a Place
9. Mopani Worms
10. Out the Black Window

Bio / Bibliography:

Claire Beynon was born in South Africa and studied Fine Arts there and in London (additional subjects included History of Art, English and Latin.). She and her family discovered New Zealand in 1994, and have lived and worked in Dunedin these past eight and a half years. A fulltime artist, Claire works in a studio overlooking the Otago harbour and peninsula. Her first solo exhibition was held in 1983 and she has exhibited regularly since then, with shows in New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, the United Kingdom and the People’s Republic of China. She also writes poetry and short stories. These have been published in journals, newspapers and collections here and overseas. Her poem "The Mystery Sonatas" won first prize in the 2002 New Zealand Poetry Society's International Competition. "Point of Entry" was runner-up in the 1999 Sunday Star Times Short Story Competition, "Introducing Deirdre" was highly commended in the 2000 Takahe Short Story Competition and "Trapeze Artist" was short-listed in the South Island Writer’s Association short story competition in 2000. She is currently working on Fire, a first collection of poetry and images.

To date, poems and short stories have appeared in:

The Christchurch Press, Tandem Press’s 100 New Zealand Short Short Stories IV, Glottis, The Sunday Star Times, The Whole Wide World, Tapping the Tank and A Savage Gathering (New Zealand Poetry Society’s Anthology 2000, 2001 and 2002), Double-jointed (a collaborative book of ‘dual’ poems by Jenny Powell-Chalmers and ten other South Island poets: published by Inkweed, 2003), Chicken Soup, USA, The Song of the Belly-button Man (an Artsenta production of images and poems 2002), the forthcoming anthology of Dunedin-based poems (suggested title ’Words with Robbie Burns,’ Otago University Press, 2003).


A member of the New Zealand Society of Authors and the New Zealand Poetry Society, Claire also belongs to two active writing groups in Dunedin and has participated in various performance-related events. These include Glottis’ informal Monday evening poetry sessions (Fuel and Arc cafés, Dunedin), and performances as part of the Otago University’s Woman’s Festival 2001 and the United Nations Dialogue Amongst Nations 2001.

Collaborative projects include:

Cover and artwork for Glottis 5 (2001)
Cover and inside artwork for Poles Apart, an autobiographical book of prose and poetry by Dunedin author Graham Bishop. (Published by Steele Roberts Ltd., Wellington and launched in December 2000.)
Cover and artwork for poetry collection A Talent for Flight by Otaki poet Glenda Fawkes. (Published in March 1999 by Steele Roberts Ltd., Wellington.