The Place of First Things - Poems by Mark Tarren

“Mark Tarren is possessed.

He has become possessed by Norfolk Island, Pitcairn Island and their deep and resonant histories, reaching back into a Time Before. But in a perfect fusion, that obsession ignites his extraordinary possession of talent with words.

Read these poems slowly and deeply, as they have been written. With each reading they sink a little further into the soul and understanding, and we are privileged to gain more insight into the mind of this talented award-nominated poet. At the same time, we are gaining greater insight into the Pitcairn/Norfolk community, and why it stands proudly, unchanged against the battering of Time and the Winds that are invoked by mere humans attempting to reduce it to a single-faceted earthbound plane.

How fortunate we are that Mark Tarren has chosen to live amongst us and through his reflections, shine a light that allows us to see our community more clearly.”

From the foreword by Margaret Christian

“Nowhere in Tarren’s poems do you feel ordinary time...In some ways, Tarren is comparable to Hermann Hesse in his ability to create a spiritual experience on the page.
Tarren delights readers with his original language and distinctive imagery, at turns sharp and fragmentary, and song-like and rhythmic.”

From “The ghosts that lie beneath” a review of A New Heaven The Norfolk Poems by Claire Miranda Roberts Author of Kangaroo Paw.

About the Author

Mark Tarren is a poet who lives on remote Norfolk Island in the South Pacific.

His work has been published in literary journals and magazines in New York, Los Angeles, Dublin, the UK and Indonesia. Referred to in Italy as “la voce dei Mari del Sud” (“The voice of the South Seas”), Mark’s poems have been translated into Italian and published in Critica Impura, L’Atrove, Pangea and Puntoacapo.

Nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2020, he is currently part of the 2023-2024 reading/selection panel for The Northern Irish Writers competition.

The Place of First Things is his second collection of poetry.

Books by Mark Tarren

A New Heaven The Norfolk Poems 2021