T.A.B. Ula Rasa Collected Poems 1980-2025 Volume I (EBOOK)

Spanning nearly half a century of poetic output, T.A.B. Ula Rasa: Collected Poems: 1980–2025: Volume 1 brings together the diverse, defiant, and deeply human work of Michael O’Leary—one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most distinctive literary voices.

This landmark collection charts a life lived at the crossroads of cultures, classes, and artistic traditions. From lyrical love poems to biting social satire, from experimental epics to streetwise songs of the everyday, O’Leary’s work captures a nation’s transformation—and a poet’s restless search for meaning, mischief, and mana.

Influenced by the romanticism of James K. Baxter, the literary irreverence of Lennon and Dylan, and the philosophical sweep of Joyce and Dante, O’Leary weaves together Irish rebellion, Polynesian spirit, and working-class resilience. His poems travel by bus and ferry through the backstreets of New Zealand, peer into secondhand bookshops and concert halls, and speak in a voice that is unmistakably his own: playful, political, and profoundly personal.

A poet shaped by hardship and humour, loss and love, O’Leary writes with a fearless candour and an abiding affection for the people and places that populate his world. Whether invoking the mythical Rubesahl or riffing on pop lyrics, his work celebrates life’s beauty while never ignoring its battles.

Volume 1 of this collected edition is both a retrospective and a revelation—an essential introduction for new readers and a rich gathering for long-time admirers. It stands as a testament to a writer whose poetry and fiction illuminate one another and whose singular voice continues to resonate across generations.