ELIZABETH SMITHER’s most recent collections of poems are Red Shoes (Te Mata Poet Laureate 3, Godwit, 2003) and A Question of Gravity; Selected Poems (Arc, 2004). She also writes short stories: Listening to the Everly Brothers (Penguin, 2002) and her novel The Sea Between Us (Penguin, 2003) was short-listed for the Montana Book Awards, 2004.

She comments: ‘Barbara Ewing sent me Edward Gorey’s marvellous calendar for 2004 “The Glorious Nosebleed” in which each month is illustrated by a pair of drawings illustrating an adverb. So there was:

January:	The pudding was served Clumsily They played whist Distractedly
May:	They got themselves up Killingly He exposed himself Lewdly
October	He explained himself Unconvincingly She appeared on the roof Vapourously

‘As I turned its enchanting pages month after month I found myself thinking of adverbs and their importance – surely more important than adjectives which merely describe whereas adverbs act. So it became a year of adverbs. In the poem I squeeze as many adverbs from the calendar into the poem as I can.’

 

Poem: The Year of Adverbs