Blog Archives

Editorial – Issue 54

Posted on June 1, 2001 by NZ Books

Largesse for literature Over the last four-and-a-half years, New Zealand Books has kept a watching brief on the Government’s performance vis-à-vis the Arts. After Jenny Shipley became Prime Minister in 1997, we expressed the rather vain hope that she would…

Tagged with: Bill Sewell, Harry Ricketts, Issue 54, Winter 2001
Posted in Editorial

Editorial – Issue 53

Posted on March 1, 2001 by NZ Books

“Impersonal sympathy” The Times Literary Supplement recently celebrated its centenary, and used the occasion to print two substantial essays – one by Ferdinand Mount, its current editor, the other by Stefan Collini – on its history, editorial policy, style, and…

Tagged with: Autumn 2001, Bill Sewell, Harry Ricketts, Issue 53
Posted in Editorial

Editorial – Issue 52

Posted on December 1, 2000 by NZ Books

A large variety of all the same? The late Allen Curnow was fond of quoting Yeats’s dictum that the real test of poets lies in how they deal with sex and death. Perhaps not surprisingly, both subjects loom memorably…

Tagged with: Bill Sewell, Harry Ricketts, Issue 52, Summer 2002
Posted in Editorial

Editorial – Issue 44

Posted on August 7, 2000 by NZ Books

Attitude and action Beyond the wildest expectations of the artistic community – and confounding the scepticism we expressed in our March 2000 editorial – the Government announced an arts funding package on 18 May that was unprecedented in its generosity and…

Tagged with: Issue 44
Posted in Editorial

Editorial – Issue 42

Posted on March 26, 2000 by NZ Books

An arts policy with attitude In our first editorial, two years ago, we made an appeal to the then new Shipley administration – more in hope than expectation – to show greater support for the arts. A positive effect was…

Tagged with: Bill Sewell, Harry Ricketts, Issue 42
Posted in Editorial

Editorial – Issue 41

Posted on December 27, 1999 by NZ Books

Happy New Millennium By the time this issue appears, a new government will have been elected; most New Zealanders will have begun to recover from the humiliations of the World Cup; a much smaller number (we suspect) will be looking…

Tagged with: Bill Sewell, Harry Ricketts, Issue 41
Posted in Editorial

Editorial – Issue 40

Posted on October 27, 1999 by NZ Books

Beyond the silencing process Lauris Edmond It’s said that as you grow older you become more au fait with the past than the present. Along with many other myths of aging, this one does not fit my experience – or…

Tagged with: Issue 40, Lauris Edmond
Posted in Editorial

Editorial – Issue 47

Posted on September 1, 1999 by NZ Books

Valuing writers One of the many reasons New Zealand Books exists is for the sake of writers. Of course, we exist for readers too. Without our readers, both the specialist ones and those who have a general interest in New…

Tagged with: Bill Sewell, Harry Ricketts, Issue 47, March 2001
Posted in Editorial

Editorial – Issue 38

Posted on June 13, 1999 by NZ Books

Salute to Lauris Edmond On behalf of New Zealand Books, we’d like to offer Lauris Edmond our very best wishes on her 75th birthday, which she celebrated in April. At the same time, we’d like to express our appreciation of the…

Tagged with: Bill Sewell, Harry Ricketts, Issue 38, Lauris Edmond
Posted in Editorial

Editorial – Issue 46

Posted on June 1, 1999 by NZ Books

Publishers behaving badly Writers can be an ungracious lot. They take offence easily; they rarely apologise or express thanks; even more rarely do they return favours. They are also known to derive as much pleasure from a friend’s literary failure…

Tagged with: Bill Sewell, December 2000, Harry Ricketts, Issue 46
Posted in Editorial