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Scotts Landing resident and physician Art Nahill is celebrating the release of his fifth poetry collection, Circumstance and Serendipity, with a free public reading later this month.
Originally from Boston, Nahill has lived and worked in New Zealand since 2005, building a dual career as both a general physician and an accomplished writer. Over the years, his poetry has appeared in a range of respected literary publications, including Poetry, Harvard Review, Takahē, Landfall and The Spinoff.
Nahill has spent nearly two decades working at Auckland and Middlemore Hospitals, and his medical career continues to inform his writing. Last year, he teamed up with fellow doctor and poet Glenn Colquhoun to undertake the Hīkoi for Health project, travelling across the North Island to gather stories and ideas aimed at improving the country’s healthcare system.
The journey is now set to inspire both a forthcoming book and a documentary, which Nahill hopes will be released ahead of the General Election in November.
Rather than focusing solely on shortcomings within the health system, the pair have taken a broader perspective.
“We didn’t want the outcome of the hīkoi to be a chronicle of how the health system is failing,” Nahill said. “Both the book and the documentary look at other models of healthcare delivery that came to light.”
He added that there are plans to revisit the communities they met along the way and return with copies of the finished work.
“The plan is to retrace our steps and deliver the books to the communities who shared their stories and perhaps make some stops in the South Island as well.”
Nahill’s latest poetry collection reflects his signature style, often described as conversational, accessible and infused with irony. The poems cover a wide range of everyday experiences, from watching a gathering storm to visiting the dentist or rediscovering a forgotten can of sardines in the pantry.
A passionate advocate for making poetry approachable, Nahill believes the art form is often made unnecessarily intimidating.
“Poetry is not as popular as it should be,” he said. “We are born with an innate love of it, but as we get older, we are taught to interpret it like a code we have to crack.”
He compares this approach to how people engage with visual art.
“When we look at a painting, we don’t try to decipher the brush strokes or the quality of the paint. We think about how it resonates and how it makes us feel.”
Having written poetry since the age of 16, Nahill says the practice has become inseparable from his medical career. He values its flexibility, especially in a busy life.
“Poetry fits into a busy life – both in terms of writing and reading. You can dip in and out, unlike a novel where you have to keep a narrative in your head.”
Nahill will host a free public reading and book launch at the Betty Paxton Room in the Mahurangi East Community Centre on Sunday, May 24, from 4pm to 5pm. Copies of Circumstance and Serendipity will be available for purchase and signing at the event.
Book Giveaway
Mahurangi Matters has a copy of Circumstance and Serendipity to give away to one lucky reader. To be in the draw, send an email to gm@localmatters.co.nz with Circumstance in the subject line. Don’t forget to include your name, suburb and contact number. Competition closes at midday on May 21.
