John Russell-Hodge

There is a backstory.

I am a retired (workaholic) management consultant turned emerging poet.

I masquerade as Senior Director of Poetry at russellhodge.solutions..

Why write poetry?

I have used writing, mainly poetry, to help me process significant life events:

A second marriage to Christine that lasted 35 years, less two days...
A total-loss house fire on the Otago Peninsula, in Dunedin, in August 2004, in the snow. The story occupied the whole front page of the Otago Daily Times and was the lead on both NZ TV news channels. Everything gone. Gone is one of the strongest words in my poetry.
As we were rebuilding our life in Wellington after the fire, Christine was afflicted by Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) in 2005, triggered by a minor operation that did not go to plan. Chris fought this disabling chronic disease for 18 years. She never let it define her, even though she spent most of that time using a wheelchair. The disease and the medications occluded her.
On 23 October 2023, Chris died four days after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia... two days before our 35th wedding anniversary. I thought she was indestructible.

ODT, 25 August 2004

Writing a poem every day

I took a decision in February 2024 to write at least one poem every day.

I am now nearing 1,600 poems. I have written poems for most of my adult life, but irregularly - perhaps between two and five a year. Some years I would write nothing.

I satarted writing more poetry after Chris's death and especially so after I participated with South Canterbury Live Poets. This group formed a month after Chris died, and going to the inaugural meeting was the first social event I attended after she died. I am currently creating a book about my experiences of grief and the celebration of love enriched by the trauma of Chris's loss.

In November 2025, I was awarded The Otago University Book Shop Summer Writer in Residence Award, in association with the Robert Lord Writers’ Cottage Trust. I used the UBS residency to work on a poetry collection with my mentor Eliana Gray and to research related topics in the Hocken Collections.

I did two local radio interviews about the residency with Beverly Martens on 10th October 2025 and Jeff Harford on Wednesday, 28 January 2026. Both interviews include readings of my poems. I am still an active participant in South Canterbury Live Poets, and the monthly open mic meetings and fortnightly critique sessions held in Timaru, Canterbury.

I was Waimate's 2026 National Poetry Day guest reader.

A variety of people and grief groups have wanted access to my poems so I am currently working on a book of poetry that I will publish in 2027. I have also decided to publish some of my earlier poetry from before Chris died here and later, more contemporary poems here. Over time, I will make readings of my poems available, too.

Digging for poetry

My process for writing poetry is centred around the sound of the words:

- Create #1: I dictate over 90% of my poems into an app called Evernote on my iPhone
- Create #2: I adjust punctuation and the infrequent funny mistakes that the dictation process sometimes adds
- Review #1: I then transpose them into Word
- Review #2: I then transpose them into Google docs so that my mentor can review them
- Review #3: I respond to their feedback and update the poems
- Review #4: I review and update on an ad hoc basis as opportunities arise (e.g. entering for a competition or for a public reading.
- Review #5: Some poems get put into a virtual drawer and are left to stew until they feel ready for review.

Given the volume of poems, there is a significant management overhead:

- Admin #1: All poem files are named in the same way: Poem #XX - Creation date (long format) Poem title
- Admin #2: All poems are allocated to categories, and if they are candidates for publication, using tags in Evernote
- Admin #3: All poems are mapped into a mindmap (using MindManager) that uses headings that have grown organically with the poetry mass.
- Admin #4: All poems are entered into a poetry database in Excel that records
  - poem category
  - review process and progress as my mentor and I cull the poems into 'possibles' for publication
  - if and where they have been used in readings
- Admin #5: All poems are updated in Evernote, Word and Google docs p[roviding an opportunity for a further review

If you download them or share them, please acknowledge the source. Thanks

digging for poetry

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