Chew the Bright Hysteria, the latest collection of poetry by Rhondda Greig presents a rich fusion of visual and literary art. Better known as a painter, Greig brings her painterly eye to her poetry, transforming natural and emotional landscapes into vivid, visceral experiences. Her work is rooted in the greens and shifting seasons of Wairarapa, New Zealand—where she has lived most of her life—and in the haunting, wintry greys of Scotland, her ancestral homeland. These two geographies provide the foundation for poems that capture the tension between belonging and displacement, between place and identity.
Greig's dual artistic focus—poet and painter—is evident throughout the collection. In her paintings, a recurring motif is the circle, often placed at the centre, perhaps symbolic of grounding or community. This visual centering echoes in her poetry, where she seeks balance between contrasting forces: the tūī and sparrow, the familiar and the strange, chaos and calm. The poem "Spring Wairarapa" exemplifies this dynamic, as Greig deftly juxtaposes the call of the tūī with the chatter of the sparrow and the audacity of the magpie, each bird offering its own energy to the poem’s textured soundscape:
"the tūī called / needing the sparrow chatter / the magpie nerve / to go solo / upside down / into a golden throat."
The language throughout the collection is both complex and tactile, with Greig’s words feeling as sculpted as her visual forms. Each poem demands attention to its intricacies, encouraging the reader to linger, allowing the images and emotions to unfold gradually, like layers of paint on a canvas.
Despite her reputation as a visual artist, Chew the Bright Hysteria proves that Greig’s poetic voice is no less compelling than her painting. Her poems evoke a striking depth of emotion and insight, revealing the artist’s ability to translate visual impressions into the realm of language. There’s a tension between stillness and motion in the collection—moments of intense sensory perception are balanced by a more contemplative undercurrent, reflecting Greig’s acute awareness of both the external world and the inner self.
What makes this collection particularly engaging is its capacity to provoke the reader’s senses. Greig’s words have a raw quality, shaping emotional and physical landscapes in ways that both comfort and disturb. Her imagery is often visceral, and her metaphors are bold. As she navigates human experience—whether in the lushness of the Wairarapa or the cold, barren Scottish coast—her poetic voice is complemented and contrasted with her visual paintings. The natural world in Greig’s poems is alive, pulsing with colour and texture, yet often laced with a sense of melancholy or unease.
Ultimately, Chew the Bright Hysteria offers a deeply immersive experience, inviting readers to explore not only Greig’s physical landscapes but the emotional terrain they inspire. Through this collection, we are given insight into the artist’s world—one that is as colourful, layered, and multifaceted as her paintings. For those familiar with Greig’s visual art, the poetry adds a rich new dimension, allowing us to step deeper into the landscapes she so lovingly renders, both in paint and in words.
Reviewer: Chris Reed
Quentin Wilson Publishing