AUP New Poets 12

Zephyr Zhang 张挚 is a queer writer, developer and ex-geotechnical engineer based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Their poetry has featured in various literary crevasses including Starling, Sweet Mammalian, Cordite, Landfall and Ōrongohau | Best New Zealand Poems. They are nocturnal.Loretta Riach is a queer artist and writer from Tāmaki Makaurau currently living in Naarm. Their writing has appeared in journals in Aotearoa and Australia, including Starling, The Spinoff, Sweet Mammalian, Ōrongohau | Best New Zealand Poems, Minarets and Sick Leave. In 2025, they were an artist-in-residence on the island of Klovharun, Finland.Anuja Mitra was born in San Diego but calls Tāmaki Makaurau home. Her poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in local and international publications including Landfall, Cordite, Poetry Aotearoa, Turbine | Kapohau, Starling, Sweet Mammalian and takahē, as well as several anthologies. She has also reviewed books and theatre for online platforms.

AUP New Poets 12 carries on the high standard set by the series and gives a fuller canvas to three young poets who I know we will read much more from in the years to come. Open-hearted, funny and extremely current, Anuja Mitra, Loretta Riach and Zephyr Zhang all write engrossing collections that deliver on the promise of their appearances in local and international journals.