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    Dear Neil Roberts
    Dear Neil Roberts
    Dear Neil Roberts
    Ebook79 pages35 minutes

    Dear Neil Roberts

    By Airini Beautrais

    ()

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    About this ebook

    It is November 18, 1982, and Neil Ian Roberts is 22 years old. He walks up to the Police Computer Centre in Whanganui, at 12:35am. Shortly after, there was an explosion. Neil committed suicide attempting to destroy that computer center, but who was Neil Roberts? This book is the search for the story of a quiet young man, an anarchist, a figure who moves differently, or vanishes altogether, in different versions of history. As much a work of documentary as poetry, this extraordinary collection considers the uncomfortable event of Neil Roberts’s death, its significance in the context of 1980s New Zealand, and how this action has reverberated through others’ lives, including the poet’s own.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVictoria University Press
    Release dateJul 1, 2015
    ISBN9781776560141
    Dear Neil Roberts

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      Book preview

      Dear Neil Roberts - Airini Beautrais

      Dear Neil Roberts

      Airini Beautrais was born in 1982 and grew up in Auckland and Whanganui. She studied ecological science and creative writing at Victoria University, and worked for several years as a science teacher. Dear Neil Roberts is her third book of poetry.

      Airini’s first book, Secret Heart, was published by VUP in 2006, followed by Western Line in 2011. Secret Heart was named Best First Book of Poetry in the Montana New Zealand Book Awards 2007.

      Airini lives in Whanganui with her partner and two children.

      For my sons

      and

      for those who have gone before

      Since a man can only die once, and his death should be clean,

      I should love to lead a Revolution and smash a machine.

      Robin Hyde, ‘The Last Revolt’

      I was the Silent Majority

      Neither a Voice nor a Face,

      I was Nobody multiplied by X,

      As Dumb as the Dust in Space.

      I died in the last Atomic War,–

      Following, following fast

      Wherever They led, whatever They said,

      And Silent, to the Last.

      Whim Wham, ‘The Majority is Always Silent’

      VICTORIA UNIVERSITY PRESS

      Victoria University of Wellington

      PO Box 600 Wellington

      vup.victoria.ac.nz

      Copyright © Airini Beautrais 2014

      First published 2014

      This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without the permission of the publishers

      National Library of New Zealand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

      Beautrais, Airini.

      Dear Neil Roberts / Airini Beautrais.

      ISBN 978-0-86473-973-5

      I. Title.

      NZ821.3—dc 23

      ISBN 978-0-86473-973-5 (print)

      ISBN 978-1-77656-014-1 (EPUB)

      ISBN 978-1-77656-015-8 (Kindle)

      Published with the assistance of a grant from

      Ebook conversion 2014 by meBooks

      Contents

      Front Cover

      Title Page

      Copyright

      Here are the numbers

      Introduction

      Finding the story

      Brain/Cloth

      Man

      Machine

      Finding the dead

      Time

      Place

      A nice night

      Clean-up

      Monuments

      Investigation

      By way of explanation

      Out the window

      Press

      A sad, flippant kind of nihilism

      History books

      No time like the 80s

      Waiting for death/Waiting for birth

      Death of a beast

      Monster relic

      I walk past a rock

      Memorials

      The thing is, Neil, you are all of us

      Conclusions

      Epilogue

      Notes

      Acknowledgements

      Postscript

      Here are the numbers

      It is 18 November, 1982.

      Neil Ian Roberts is 22 years old.

      He walks up to the Police Computer Centre

      in Whanganui, at 12:35 am.

      Eight employees are inside the building.

      All began their shifts at 11 pm.

      Six working at computer terminals,

      and two security guards.

      One of the guards sees Neil

      stoop down outside the doors.

      He notices his face is covered,

      and goes to the intercom,

      about to ask him what he wants.

      There is a flash and a terrific explosion.

      The guard is knocked off his seat.

      Buildings are rocked 400 metres away.

      Neil is killed instantly.

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