Poetry Night in Ōtepoti - 9 September 2026

By Octagon Poetry Collective - Mac MacDonald | Posted: Thursday Sep 17, 2026

Poet extraordinaire and Octagon Poetry Collective committee member, Mac MacDonald, shares highlights from their latest poetry reading:

THE UNIMAGINABLE

In association with UNESCO City of Literature Dunedin and the New Athenaeum Theatre, the Octagon Poetry Collective hosted its monthly poetry night for September at the New Athenaeum Theatre on the 9th. A crowd of around forty-five received a warm welcome from MC, Nicola Thorstensen, who again had to keep the tempo cranking to get through a twenty strong open mic list. We learned that pensioners days are full of check lists, coffee, and cheese rolls; tattoos make us more interested in our bodies; and laundromats are meeting grounds for secret societies.

Michelle Elvy, the first of two Feature Poets, let slip that while a Maui dolphin holds his cards close to his chest, the house always wins. And as for the dealer, well, he never looked the dolphin in the eye! She also wondered if returning astronauts would recognise the Earth. Struggling with space motion sickness, would the gravity of now prove too much for them? As for the rest of us, will we ever find a new equilibrium?

The second Feature Poet, Rachel O’Neill, admitted that when Gold sneezes, it’s terrifying. She posited that speculatively speaking, Gold knows it’s a bubble, is feeling homesick and wants to return to the cosmos. As for the big picture, we’re finishing the world by blowing it out. When faced with the unimaginable, we can either acquiesce or use our initiative. Her personal response? To almost write bugger in the grass with the lawnmower!

The next Octagon Poetry Collective Poetry Night will be held at 7pm, 7 October at the New Athenaeum Theatre.

Feature Poets: David Eggleton and David Howard.

MC: Mac MacDonald.

Everyone welcome.