Onehunga writer releases his tenth book2 min read

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Onehunga writer and Zen practitioner, Richard von Sturmer, has released his tenth book, Slender Volumes, a collection of 300 brief stories, each seven lines in length.

Richard is a teacher of Zen Buddhism, and the inspiration for Slender Volumes was a collection of 300 koans by Zen Master Dogen. “Koans are the teaching stories unique to Zen Buddhism.

Each day I would read a koan and then see what sprang up in the way of a story.”

Zen is central to Richard’s life and work, and he co-founded the Auckland Zen Centre in Onehunga with his wife Amala Wrightson. He says that you don’t need to know anything about koans or Zen to enjoy the stories in Slender Volumes, which is available at various bookstores in Auckland.

“There are a number of threads running through the stories: autobiographic accounts, historical fragments, fables, Zen teaching stories, surrealist stories, sketches from life, and landscaped-based stories,” says Richard. “I am a practitioner of haiku and tanka (three and five line Japanese poetic forms), and I like writing with constraints. So, the constraint with Slender Volumes is that each story would be precisely seven lines.”

Many stories in the landscape-based category are centred on Onehunga lagoon and the Manukau Harbour.

Richard is inspired by different stimulus in his work, from a painting, a snippet of conversation, a walk, or a photograph, and he always carries a notebook with him and often a camera too, to capture new inspiration. His past works include poetry, a memoir about his grandfather and father, song lyrics, including the famous, There Is No Depression In New Zealand, by Blam Blam Blam and theatre performances.

This year, Richard was among a group of filmmakers commissioned to make a short film to mark the 50th anniversary of the music group, From Scratch. His film, Dei Secchi, Dei Bagnati (Dry Gods, Wet Gods), features cliffs and rocks around the Hillsborough bays. He is currently working on a new film, Edgeland, exploring ruined buildings, and a poetry collection titled The Occasional Elephant.