Peace & Quiet

What use is poetry in times of ecological and political turbulence? Peace and Quiet grapples with this question, invoking both human voices and the voices — ‘the silt and the slash’ — of the natural world.

Powerful and illuminating, these poems show that peace, gentleness and reflection are a form of resistance.

'Dinah Hawken is the high priestess of pin-drop poetry.' —James Brown

‘Hawken is a wholehearted, surefooted poet, a gather and protector of precious things that others may ignore.’ —Sophie van Waardenburg, Aotearoa NZ Review of Books

‘This is poetry that digs deeply into existence, life and death, peace ahead of war, the power of silence and the power of the spoken.’ —Paula Green

‘Few writers have the skill to return to the land and the sea with such originality and genuine knowing as Hawken.’ —Sarah Jane Barnett

Dinah Hawken is one of New Zealand’s most celebrated poets. She was born in Hāwera in 1943 and now lives in Paekākāriki. Recent poetry collections include Faces and Flowers: Poems to Patricia France, Sea-light, and There Is No Harbour. In 2025 she received the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement.

Cover: Keely O'Shannessy