First published in 2004, Wild Dogs Under My Skirt was the debut poetry collection of prizewinning poet Tusiata Avia. Here, she draws on two different cultures and charts the sometimes painful points of their intersection. These poems are confrontational and entertaining, raw and lyrical. They occupy a world of legend and history – ‘we are direct descendants of flesh-eaters’ – and break into an urban landscape that is just as arresting and richly patterned. Avia’s poetry is alive with the energy and rhythm of performance and of an oral tradition. It also stakes out a unique physical life on the page, reshaping our language and our understanding of New Zealand culture.