This is the place where souls come to be mended

By S. A. Arleyn | Posted: Tuesday Feb 04, 2025

These are the words of poet Annie Villiers, who recently represented Ōtepoti City of Literature in Heidelberg’s “Poetry on the Move” project.

Heidelberg, one of the other 52 cities identified by UNESCO as a City of Literature, initiated the project and in total 18 other such cities joined the project to produce a colourful array of multilingual poetry submissions around the theme of movement. These were then translated into German and published, in both languages, on postcards, which were distributed around Heidelberg, and on posters displayed on buses and trains. (Annie’s contribution was translated by Dagmar Brenneisen.)

The project culminated in a free, live reading of the 26 contributions in the form of an hour-long loop train ride around the 1500-year-old city. Alongside Dunedin, Heidelberg celebrated its 10-year anniversary as a City of Literature in 2024 and hopes that this successful “Poetry on the Move” project will be the first of many. The event was popular: almost every seat was full.

Enjoy Annie’s poem being read out on the train here.

For Annie, poetry and transformation go hand in hand. Her submission, “Invisible Mending”, was initially published in Parallel Lines: Riding the Central Otago Rail Trail (Longacre Press, 2007), a collaboration with artist John Z Robinson to celebrate the Otago Central Rail Trail. But the piece has a timeless quality to it, and was ripe for rediscovery. “It’s like unwrapping a gift from the past,” Annie says. “‘Invisible Mending’…. still resonates. The connection with 'movement' (the “Poetry on the Move” Heidelberg project) is the travelling from one place to another - ie, cycling the rail trail or riding the train. [You’re] starting in one place and arriving in the other, subtly changed.” Annie’s poem connects the relationship between travel, mending, and metamorphosis. Intentional gaps in the text create holes, which close up as you read the words; the very act of reading the text knits it back together. “The metaphor of 'knitting-up' is probably personal but seems to have wide appeal,” she tells me. “We all need somewhere to go for soul mending.”

Enjoy the other 25 poetry submissions here.

Annie Villiers is a poet and author living and working in Central Otago. Her publications include two poetry collections in collaboration with artist John Z. Robinson, a novel, and poetry and writing in magazines and journals, including Landfall and North & South. Annie has been awarded a residency at The Robert Lord Writers Cottage this year.