Cool, candid and sometimes angry, New Zealand’s laureate wants to make poetry pop

After years of forging his own path on the literary scene, Chris Tse doesn’t mind taking poetic licence with expectations

Fan of Taylor Swift, lover of glam-rock fashion – Chris Tse isn’t your typical poet laureate.

At 39, he is the youngest New Zealander to hold the title. When Tse reads the list of poetry greats who have received the honour and spies his own name at the bottom, he feels “a little bit ill”.

QUESTION FROM THE AUDIENCE #2:

My question is in two parts. Aren’t you being racist yourself by calling me a racist? And what will you write about when you run out of otherness?