It was with great regret that we learned last Tuesday, that David Mitchell had died that morning (June 21st), 5 am Australian time, after a long battle with Supra Nuclear Palsy, which had left him unable to speak for a long time.
The poets gathered at Poetry Live that night were struck by a great sense of loss and there was a massive outpouring of nostalgia, David Mitchell anecdotes and just generally a sense of gratitude for what David gave us all, in creating Poetry Live thirty-one years ago. Many poets wrote messages in the open mic book, which Penny kindly passed onto the family for us all. Though the funeral is in Australia, there are plans to hold a memorial service in New Zealand and we will keep you posted, as information unfolds.
The Poetry Live MCs also collectively sent a message to Genevieve to be shared on our behalf at the funeral and we would like to reiterate that message here:
The Poetry Live community sends their condolescences to David's friends and family at this time. Even those of us who never had the honour of knowing or meeting David, have found our lives touched and enriched by his time on the planet. In starting Poetry Live, David started something that has given encouragement and support to thirty years worth of New Zealand poets. Looking through the archives, it is apparent that pretty much every major poet in the country since 1980 has in some way been part of Poetry Live at some point in their writing career. For the current MC team, Poetry Live is a place that nurtured us as budding poets and gave us our first platform to be heard. We have been steeped in David Mitchell mythologies and anecdotes for decades, and though none of us personally knew him, we feel inextricably connected to him nonetheless. An old Poetry Live document says that the David started out with "the philosophy to create a place where poets could gather and share their work in a supportive environment." Definitely, David achieved this, not only that, he inspired a community to carry it on into the future. Beyond this though, Poetry Live became a testing ground for poets, the place where new collaborations are born, where ideas are shared, where new projects are shown and where there is just the most amazing creative energy. We all feel blessed to be part of it. Our many thanks to David for giving it to us. We promise to keep it going and to remember what it is all about. We warmly invite all of his loved ones to visit us any Tuesday of the year to see what David created and how it keeps on going: we're still there every week and any friend of David Mitchell's is a friend of Poetry Live's.
Poetry Live will be holding a special David Mitchell Memorial event on Tuesday July 12th. Anyone interested in being involved, please contact Rachael, via the Poetry Live email address poetrylive AT gmail DOT com.
The poets gathered at Poetry Live that night were struck by a great sense of loss and there was a massive outpouring of nostalgia, David Mitchell anecdotes and just generally a sense of gratitude for what David gave us all, in creating Poetry Live thirty-one years ago. Many poets wrote messages in the open mic book, which Penny kindly passed onto the family for us all. Though the funeral is in Australia, there are plans to hold a memorial service in New Zealand and we will keep you posted, as information unfolds.
The Poetry Live MCs also collectively sent a message to Genevieve to be shared on our behalf at the funeral and we would like to reiterate that message here:
The Poetry Live community sends their condolescences to David's friends and family at this time. Even those of us who never had the honour of knowing or meeting David, have found our lives touched and enriched by his time on the planet. In starting Poetry Live, David started something that has given encouragement and support to thirty years worth of New Zealand poets. Looking through the archives, it is apparent that pretty much every major poet in the country since 1980 has in some way been part of Poetry Live at some point in their writing career. For the current MC team, Poetry Live is a place that nurtured us as budding poets and gave us our first platform to be heard. We have been steeped in David Mitchell mythologies and anecdotes for decades, and though none of us personally knew him, we feel inextricably connected to him nonetheless. An old Poetry Live document says that the David started out with "the philosophy to create a place where poets could gather and share their work in a supportive environment." Definitely, David achieved this, not only that, he inspired a community to carry it on into the future. Beyond this though, Poetry Live became a testing ground for poets, the place where new collaborations are born, where ideas are shared, where new projects are shown and where there is just the most amazing creative energy. We all feel blessed to be part of it. Our many thanks to David for giving it to us. We promise to keep it going and to remember what it is all about. We warmly invite all of his loved ones to visit us any Tuesday of the year to see what David created and how it keeps on going: we're still there every week and any friend of David Mitchell's is a friend of Poetry Live's.
Poetry Live will be holding a special David Mitchell Memorial event on Tuesday July 12th. Anyone interested in being involved, please contact Rachael, via the Poetry Live email address poetrylive AT gmail DOT com.
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