Critical attention Good to see in your issue 112 (NZB Summer 2015) Vincent O’Sullivan’s obituary on W H Oliver who was married to my mother’s half-sister Dorothy. I remember discussing poetry with Dorothy and Bill 65 years ago. More to…

Mud on the tracks

I want to say a few things about some connotations in the review of my third novel, Glam Rock Boyfriends (NZB Spring 2014). Nick Bollinger, your reviewer, is an expert re rock music, so I was delighted to find the music details were fine, as he did not mention any issues. Descriptions in the book also conjured up rewarding, tangible images, he said. Yes, I did want readers to enjoy recalling the recent past. Crisp poplins on a summer’s day in the 1950s, for instance, and satins and velvets sumptuous in the 1970s.

Vote of thanks Writers get the kudos; editors very little. Jane Westaway deserves a huge vote of thanks from New Zealand writers for her years of stalwart service as co-editor of New Zealand Books. As they would say here in…