Peter Bland
Peter Bland is a poet and actor, whose writing commits to an everyday sub-urban sense of reality, often exploiting the framework of the dramatic monologue. He has a distinguished place in New Zealand theatre history as co-founder of Downstage and its artistic director 1964-68. He has worked as a stage and television actor and several of his own plays have been produced. Bland has published a large selection of poetry volumes in New Zealand and the UK. 'Coming Ashore' (Steele Roberts, ISBN: 978-1877577499) is his most recent collection. The Times Literary Supplement describes his poetry as 'vivid, witty, and original'.
“I left this morning saying ‘I love you’as if setting out for some unknown countryinstead of the corner shop. I wantedyou to be sure, in casethis time - out of, say, 10,000 departuresI never made it back: althoughafter 50 years together, 2 countries,3 children, and several former journeysthat would put this one to shameyou’d think there’d be no need to pauseon my own doorstep, suddenly afraidof the distance between us, of your absolute beauty,of the growing aloneness when I clicked the latch.”
Peter Bland