The Climb Back

‘There is a fierce tenderness in these poems of happy remembrance and devastating sorrow. With so much love expressed so beautifully in the first half of the book, we instinctively fear what is to come, as if all that light cast shadows across our path. Though the death of a loved partner – also a poet – is deeply personal, these passionate poems open out and touch us with a consoling grief.’ – Paul Kane

‘”Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass, stains the white radiance of eternity.” – Percy Bysshe Shelley. From the first poem that speaks of the “delicate prints of oyster catchers” to the comfort of a ragged dressing gown, the protective love of the kahu-feather cloak and the “butcher-bird that perches very close”, Pip, as a poet and wordsmith transports us into an experience that shines multicoloured with the beauty of a stained glass window. Each poem is a facet that adds to the mosaic, each poem a gentle play of light, illuminating page by page. For those of us who know life is a gift and are called to the hard work of hope, The Climb Back is invaluable.’ – Colleen Keating

‘Poignant, sensual, spiritual, sorrowful, and funny, Pip Griffin’s latest poetry collection The Climb Back encompasses a life richly lived. What is not to admire about a poet who can write lines as diverse as “the shags open their sodden wings like flashers’ raincoats” and “cherry trees in blossom line the streets like flower girls at a wedding”. This book is a hymn to New Zealand, Pip’s homeland, and a celebration of its landscape, wildlife and the Maori language. But even above this, it is a memorial to Ted, her friend, lover and fellow poet. If he were still here, I’d be clinking my glass with his, to celebrate her achievement.’ – Mark Mahemoff