Claudia Jardine

‘She’s sharp, critical, iconoclastic, sexy, frank and funny – often all of these in one poem. And while love and sexuality are the dominant themes there is nothing it seems that Claudia can’t write poetry about – spilt pasta, raisinhood, her father’s mishandling of cheese wrapping, German kitchen technology, contemporary auspices.’ — Anna Jackson

‘BITER powerfully strips back the experience of being human across millennia, revealing sharp teeth, still-beating hearts and iron cervices alike. Here the veins of the Tiber flow right through to the Ōtākaro, and Byzantine scholars burn with the same passions as the modern woman – even when she finds herself in the back of a charging Nissan Leaf. Jardine weaves all the tones and textures of life together into a collection that shines with erudition while firmly asserting that to err is human, especially in the kitchen.’ — Rebecca K Reilly

Longlisted for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry, Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2024