Ten years ago, published Dunedin poets Jenny Powell and I, Kay McKenzie Cooke, formed a poetry reading duo, calling ourselves J&K Rolling.

Lately, we have dropped the ‘Rolling’ part and are simply known as J&K.

As J&K, we take poetry out and about, visiting different locations in the environs of Ōtepoti Dunedin and beyond. We do this largely under our own steam, fuelled by a love of poetry and the desire to, in accordance with Ara Toi Ōtepoti strategy “promote and profile the city’s creative excellence and build dynamic and productive relationships nationally”.

Over the decade of hitting the road with our swag of poems we have dropped into over twenty locations – from Port Chalmers, Outram, Brighton and Blueskin Bay, to Middlemarch, Gore, Winton, Invercargill, Owaka, Queenstown, Glenorchy and Tapanui (to name a few). Holding Open Mic sessions in libraries, halls and cafes has encouraged locals to bring along their own poetry. Our Ōtepoti-grown love of poetry has even inspired locals in some small rural towns to form their own poetry groups.

The farthest afield we have roamed has been Wellington, reading as ‘J&K from Dunedin’. A highlight was being invited by David Eggleton to be guest poets at his inauguration as Poet Laureate at the Matahiwi Marae, near Hastings.

True to our byline, On The Road Again, we have plans to continue for the next decade, or at least for as long as our travelling shoes last, launching ourselves out from Ōtepoti to visit even more places.

We are certainly excited to see where poetry will take not only us, but a host of others in the years ahead. Auld Robbie Burns would be proud.