In the 47 years since Elizabeth Smither published her first poetry collection, Here Come the Clouds, she's won numerous awards and was our Poet Laureate in the early 2000s. Her latest collection My American Chair invites us to roam the world with her, through a series of memorable moments and encounters. But, as she tells Lynn Freeman, there are also many poems about home, aging, mortality, friendship and family. Auckland University Press has published Elizabeth Smither's new poetry collection, My American Chair.