After The Fallen Soldier’s Lookout Memorial, Muaūpoko Otago Peninsula, Ōtepoti Dunedin
The poem ‘Lookout Soldier’ by Claire Beynon was first published in the Otago Daily Times in 2009. Three years later, in 2012, Elizabeth Brooke-Carr emailed, saying ‘I hope you won’t mind but the soldier has written a response to the poet…’
Lines from Elizabeth Brooke-Carr included with permission from the poet’s estate and family.
Claire Beynon is a South African-born artist, writer and interdisciplinary researcher who has lived in Dunedin since in 1994. In addition to a well-established solo practice, she collaborates with artists, writers, scientists and musicians in New Zealand and overseas. She is a published and award-winning writer of poetry, essays and short stories. Her new collection For When Words Fail Us | A small Book of Changes is forthcoming from The Cuba Press.
Elizabeth Brooke-Carr (1940-2019) was a poet and writer. She taught English in secondary schools for twenty years and tutored creative writing evening classes. Her poems, and her short story ‘Jimmy the Needle’, were published in the Otago Daily Times and her articles on social justice and environmental issues were published widely. Elizabeth was the inaugural writer-in-residence, Down the Bay, at the Caselberg Trust cottage in 2010.