New book ‘a kind of satirical political pamphlet of poetry’

Former poet laureate David Eggleton, of Dunedin, holds a copy of his new book Mundungus Samizdat in front of a painting by his collaborator Alan Harold at the Dunedin Community Gallery on Saturday.

Eggleton performed songs from the book to launch an exhibition of Harold’s paintings, which also featured in the book.

The book was a collection of poems written this year that fired shots at famous figures from around the world such as Donald Trump and in New Zealand Winston Peters, who featured in a song called Winnie The P, Eggleton said.

"It’s a kind of satirical political pamphlet of poetry about what’s going on in New Zealand and around the world as well.

"Just giving my quirky, slightly sardonic slant to it."

He tried to complement Harold’s paintings in the book through his words. The words and the painting shared the same "grotesque and cartoonish" humour. Harold’s painting would be exhibited at the gallery for a week.