Blog Archives

Poem – John O’Connor

Rex purveyor of tall tales & veteran of Gallipoli, the Western Front. carpenter & model maker, smoker of ‘roll-yr-owns’, thin as a rake, he grew only asparagus for an anaemic looking wife who loved the races & left him &

See more ›

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Poem

Across the great divide, Harvey McQueen

Apes Road: Poems Since 1997 Rob Jackaman Hazard Press, $21.95, ISBN 1877270245 Working Voices John O’Connor & Eric Mould Hallard Press, $24.95, ISBN 0864770480 In his essay “The Narrow-Columned Middle Ground”, Australian Les Murray explores a myth: We tend nowadays

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review

Here’s looking at you, kid, John O’Connor

Gallery: A Selection Mark Pirie Salt Publishing, $29.95, ISBN 1876857242 Toku Tinihanga: Selected Poems 1982-2002 Michael O’Leary HeadworX, $26.95, ISBN 0473090066 Walking the Land Kevin Ireland Hazard Press, $21.95, ISBN 1877270520 We live in the age of celebrity. This has

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review

The poetics of limitation, John O’Connor

Playing God Glenn Colquhoun Steele Roberts, $24.95, ISBN 1877228753 LOVEINABOOKSTOREORYOURMONEYBACK Sarah Quigley Auckland University Press, $21.95, ISBN 1869402847 People with Real Lives Don’t Need Landscapes John Dolan Auckland University Press, $21.99, ISBN 1869402871   Three books with apparently little in

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review

Poem – John O’Connor

Memo: Fragrant as a Rose   It is reported that Comrade Stalin has smiled. Fleetingly. Between vodka and signing permissions for fresh interrogations, Comrade Beria had mentioned the Civic Crèche and an upcoming visit to Australia. Comrade Stalin’s distrust of

See more ›

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Poem

Purposeful nonsense? John O’Connor

Comment  Lenin once said, “When I see a dung heap, I do not rummage in it to see if it is a dung heap.” Polemics, of course – entertaining, but not enlightening. Freed, Morepork, Parallax, And, Splash (all discontinued) –

See more ›

Tagged with: , , ,
Posted in Comment

Neighbourhood watch, L E Scott

The Usefulness of Singing Helen Jacobs Sudden Valley Press, $16.95, ISBN 0 9583684 1 4 Legend of the Cool Secret Graham Lindsay Sudden Valley Press, $16.95, ISBN 0 9583684 6 5 Stone Moon Dark Water John Allison Sudden Valley Press,

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review

Passages to India John O’Connor

Into India Geoff Cochrane Victoria University Press, $19.95, ISBN 0 86473 357 7 The Girls on the Wall Diana Bridge Auckland University Press, $19.95, ISBN 1 86940 209 X Geoff Cochrane’s Into India is divided into two sections. The first

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , ,
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review

A sense of completeness, John O’Connor

Gallipoli & Other Poems Alistair Te Ariki Campbell Wai-te-ata Press, $24.95, ISBN 1 877159 08 5 In 1971 I wandered into a Christchurch bookshop and asked for the poems of Ezra “Pond”. I was doing UE at night tech; someone

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review

One degree of separation, Claire Murdoch

JAAM 7 Mark Pirie (ed) JAAM 8 Paul Wolffram (ed) $7.00, ISBN 1 733633 X Takahe 31 Nick Ascroft (ed) $0.00, ISBN 0 114413 8 Printout 21 Diane Brown (ed) $12.95, ISBN 1 1710438 Sport 18 and 19 James Brown

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Poetry, Review, Short stories
Search the archive
Search by category