Southern Stage
John Broughton, Oscar Kightley and Erolia Ifopo, Gary Henderson, and Carl Nixon
Playmarket, $40.00,
ISBN 9780908607662
These four plays all have a connection to the mainland, via either their setting, their writers or, in most cases, both. However, it must be said that one of the writers here is a filthy JAFA (Just Another Fucking Aucklander). As a quartet what, if anything, do they tell us about the South?
The Score
Adrienne Jansen
Escalator Press, $28.00,
ISBN 978047325328
The Virgin & the Whale
Carl Nixon
Vintage, $38.00,
ISBN 9781775533757
I’m Working on a Building
Pip Adam
Victoria University Press, $30.00,
ISBN 9780864738981
When more than one book is featured in a review, does the order in which those books are first read have an impact on the reviewer’s perceptions? I’m hoping it doesn’t. But I can’t quite rid myself of the feeling that, had I read them in reverse order, I might have felt better served.
Gravel Roads Peter Butler David Ling, $29.99, ISBN 9781877378461 The Widow’s Daughter Nicholas Edlin Penguin, $40.00, ISBN 9780143204091 Settlers’ Creek Carl Nixon Vintage, $29.99, ISBN 9781869794033 Quinine Kelly Ana Morey Huia, $35.00, ISBN 9781869694319 Peter Butler…
Ripples on the Lake Dawn Rotorangi HarperCollins, $26.99, ISBN 13978869506391 Cutting Caleb Keys Glenn Bowden Penguin Books, $28.00, ISBN 9780143006008 Rocking Horse Road Carl Nixon Vintage, $27.99, ISBN 9781969419073 The Blue Mary McCallum Penguin Books, $28.00, ISBN 9780143007234 In the…