Ashleigh Young

Poetry Editor

Ashleigh Young is poetry editor at The Spinoff Review of Books. She is the author of two poetry collections, Magnificent Moon (2012) and How I Get Ready (2019), and the essay collection Can You Tolerate This? (2016).

Books
Apr 21, 2020

Lockdown letters #26, Ashleigh Young: On celery soup and KFC skin

For a few weeks we haven’t been able to escape each other or ourselves or our own terrible cooking.

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Books
Apr 16, 2020

Lockdown letters #21, Ashleigh Young: Avoiding the loaves

On writing and not writing about bread.

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Books
Apr 11, 2020

Lockdown letters #16, Ashleigh Young: On going for a walk

'It feels like there is an inner circle of walking that I can no longer break into, some pleasure I have become too stupid to feel. Maybe it’s the internet’s fault.'

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Books
Apr 6, 2020

Lockdown letters #11, Ashleigh Young: Reaching for the cherries

'When you reach for the exact same thing day after day, your grasp on everything else in the world loosens.'

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Books
Apr 1, 2020

Lockdown letters #6, Ashleigh Young: I keep thinking about the beast man

The outside is telling us, ‘I could do that again whenever I wanted. You think about that.’

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Books
Mar 27, 2020

Lockdown letters #1, Ashleigh Young: ‘It’s gonna be a long night tonight’

"This will be my lockdown anthem, to remind me that a feeling of endlessness and shapelessness doesn’t have to be ominous – maybe it can be joyful, and anarchic, and great."

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Books
May 13, 2019

The Monday Poem: Turn Out to Be Something by Ashleigh Young

New work by Ashleigh Young from her upcoming collection How I Get Ready.

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Books
Apr 7, 2019

‘I’m a writer for fun’: Ashleigh Young on a vital new collection, More of Us

Ashleigh Young reviews More of Us, a collection of poetry written by migrants and refugees. 

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Books
Jan 23, 2019

A brief note on feelings by our new poetry editor Ashleigh Young

Ashleigh Young talks about her feelings as she steps into her new role as poetry editor at The Spinoff Review of Books.

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Books
Aug 23, 2017

The Wednesday Poem: ‘Words of praise’ by Ashleigh Young

Every day this week the Spinoff Review of Books is publishing a new poem in the build-up to the Phantom Billstickers national poetry day on Friday. Today: a new poem by Ashleigh Young

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Books
Mar 10, 2017

All Ashleigh, all the time: The Friday Poem, by Ashleigh Young

New verse by a Wellington writer who has become the world's most famous New Zealand author, Ashleigh Young.

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Books
Dec 2, 2016

A final, binding ruling on the correct spelling of the word “eh”

Ashleigh Young resolves the burning issue facing all New Zealanders: the correct way to spell our beloved national particle. Hint: it's not "aye".

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Books
Oct 10, 2016

The Monday Surrey Hotel Writers Residency Award Report: Ashleigh Young meets SJD, talks to a cat, and the cat talks back

Ashleigh Young files a report on her residency at the Surrey Hotel in Grey Lynn as one of the winners of the 2016 The Surrey Hotel Steve Braunias Memorial Writers Residency in Association with The Spinoff Award.

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Books
Mar 11, 2016

The Friday Poem – Your horse, by Ashleigh Young

New verse by Wellington writer Ashleigh Young.

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Books
Dec 2, 2015

Books: The Best Books of 2015 According to a Panel of 10 Experts. Our Fifth Expert – Ashleigh Young

All week this week 10 readers choose their favourite books of the year. Come in, number six: Ashleigh Young.

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Books
Oct 16, 2015
Books
Sep 25, 2015

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