New Books
Moon too Heavy by Jac Jenkins
Girl has empty baskets, blooming sky. Girl has moon full of pink atoms
in her hands, full of pale, full of long-time-ago. So solid it must have soul.
Pythagorus said “There is a good principle that created order, light, and man and a bad principle that created chaos, darkness, and woman.” Moon Too Heavy explores many of the ways in which women carry this weight, and how they might find it in themselves one day to cast it off.
“Jac Jenkins’ work has guts and intellect and a deep current of physical delight. These are fiery and thinking poems.” Anna Smaill
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Pav Deconstructed
Pav Deconstructed: Pavlova through the eyes of everyday Kiwis is now available for sale within New Zealand. Get your copy here and read our Goodreads reviews here – currently a solid 5-star rating! Thank you to all our readers.
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ABOUT US
This is the home page of Pavlova Press, an independent publishing business based in Kerikeri, New Zealand. Our aim is to collaborate with writers who spare no effort to produce quality work but who have had limited success following traditional publishing routes. In 2026, we will be open for two or three very short submission periods. Note that windows may open with short notice so be sure to follow us here or on Facebook to stay informed. Our submission form is available to download now to enable you to prepare in advance. The submission form and terms and conditions are on our Submissions page. Please only send us work during submission periods.
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OUR BOOKS
Five Fat Sausages: being a roller-coaster in a merry-go-round world
An emotional roller-coaster in a merry-go-round world, Pam is a 67-year-old emerging author and red-level neurodiverse extrovert with a bunch of mental health diagnoses. In Five Fat Sausages she shares her journey through childhood PTSD and other traumas, reclaiming her life in unconventional ways. Pam’s extraordinary ability to be both playful and witty provides levity and laugh-out-loud moments, even in the darkest chapters of her life. Her refreshing honesty may help others find truth and hope within her story and a source of strength within themselves.
Pav Deconstructed: Pavlova through the eyes of everyday Kiwis
We all have a pavlova tale to tell!
This surprising observation during a merry dinner sparked a two-year quest for the real pavlova, the one seen on Kiwi tables, and not just through the photos in a recipe book.
Pav Deconstructed brings together experiences and imaginings from everyday Kiwis (and some international imposters) in a collection that shows pavlova is not just a dessert, it is community. Whether you love pavlova or hate it, why not dig right in? You might find yourself inside.
“A volume filled with sticky ingredients, held together by Kiwi humour. Here readers will find poems, art, stories and songs – and a recipe for a humdinger of a gin fizz with a pav twist. It opens with an introduction by Andrew Paul Wood (New Zealand) and Annabelle Utrecht (Australia) and is sprinkled with newspaper clippings, quips and cartoons, and even a suggestion for a new postage stamp series. But beware: the endings are not always sweet. For some, frothy egg whites lead to darker stories from family histories. Pain and loss may lurk under the fluff and sometimes our obsessions run deep. This eclectic and colourful collection invites readers into the many layers of pavlova.“
Michelle Elvy
Ngā Ripo Wai | Swirling Waters
Ngā Ripo Wai | Swirling Waters is a multi-genre anthology in te reo Māori and English which explores the uneven terrain of Kerikeri and its history, from the pā to the store, from the warrior to the gardener, from the chain-mail coat to the black singlet to the Māori Battalion tie pin, from the orchards to the river banks, from the airport to the Old Packhouse Market and the galleries. It is a beautiful, undulating landscape of poems, ultra-short stories, interviews and histories from writers with a Kerikeri connection, including Glenn Colquhoun, Fiona Kidman, Piet Nieuwland, Vivienne Plumb, Vaughan Rapatahana, Briar Wood and others.
Books are available direct from Pavlova Press. Email admin[at]pavlovapress.co.nz ($28 incl GST, postage will be added if necessary).
Scoria: Short prose from the cinder cone
by Kathy Derrick and Jac Jenkins
“It is near noon in the orchard and small passions of petals are bursting spring into the air.
Or perhaps it’s mid-afternoon …”
What happens when two sisters, who grew up under a cinder cone mountain, put their writing talents together? The answer is Scoria—a compilation of short prose pieces that explore the scoriac “small bubbles and glassy fragments” of life.
Two clever sisters … construct brief, extremely pithy fables concerning separation and regeneration. Their joint imaginations run amok in this conjuring trick of a collection—at times wicked bitch brutal, at other times fairy modmother magical. But always superbly crafted nuggets of hypnogogia. He pukapuka iti rawa.
Vaughan Rapatahana
Print books are available direct from Pavlova Press. Email admin[at]pavlovapress.co.nz ($22 incl GST, postage will be added if necessary).
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Pavlova Press 