Blog Archives

Connecting kindred tribes, David Eggleton

Black Marks on the White Page Witi Ihimaera and Tina Makereti (eds) Penguin Random House, $40.00, ISBN 9780143770299 Billed as a guidebook to the contemporary literature of Oceania, Black Marks on the White Page is not quite that; it’s too…
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Posted in Art, Literature, Māori, Non-fiction, Pacific, Short stories

Watching a craftsman, Briar Lawry

Strait Men and Other Tales Murray Edmond Steele Roberts, $30.00, ISBN 9781927242988 Strait Men and Other Tales by Murray Edmond is a tricky beast. Its slim spine belies the size and style of the stories within – there’s nothing that…
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Posted in Literature, Review, Short stories

Not what they seem, but more so, Lloyd Jones

The Stories of Bill Manhire Bill Manhire Victoria University Press, $40.00, ISBN 9780864739254 Bill Manhire turns 70 this year, as does another eminent poet of his generation, Ian Wedde. Brian Turner is 72. Vincent O’Sullivan is fast approaching 80. C…
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Posted in Literature, Review, Short stories

“We talked and we argued to keep ourselves alive”, Tina Makereti

For Someone I Love – A Collection of Writing Arapera Blank Anton Blank Ltd, $40.00, ISBN 9780473299187 For Someone I Love is aptly titled, for the immediate impression is of the immense devotion Arapera and Pius Blank had to each…
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Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review, Short stories

So wide, can’t get around it, John Newton

James K Baxter: Complete Prose John Weir (ed) Victoria University Press, $200.00 ISBN 9781776560370 James K Baxter’s Collected Poems which appeared in 1979 remains the most monumental object in New Zealand verse. But it contains a mere 700 poems; the…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Non-fiction, Review, Short stories

Ineludible envanishings Jane Stafford

Blanche Baughan: Selected Writings Damian Love (ed) Erewhon Press, $30,00 ISBN 9780473309435 It is hard work establishing and maintaining a local canon when authors vanish and books slide in and out of print. Moreover, by definition, a canon stretches over…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Poetry, Review, Short stories

Short and not very sweet, Ashlee Nelson

ShameJoy Julie Hill Giant Sparrow, $25.00, ISBN 9780473284060 Mean Michael Botur Create Space, US$6.66, ISBN 9781491226650 Julie Hill’s ShameJoy is very much a mixed bag in terms of quality, with some stories incoherent messes and others poignant and perceptive. The…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories

Short stories as selfless, Christine Johnston

The Red Queen Gemma Bowker-Wright Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9780864739209 Empty Bones and Other Stories Breton Dukes Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9780864739186 The Red Queen and Empty Bones, two short story collections by new writers, while having much…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories

What if? Susan Pearce

The Shingle Bar Sea Monster and Other Stories  Laura Solomon Proverse Hong Kong ISBN 9789888167357 Rising to the Surface Latika Vasil Steele Roberts ISBN 9781927242124 Blood and Koka Kola Christodoulos E G Moisa One Eyed Press ISBN 9781483911298 Each short…
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Posted in Literature, Review, Short stories

What are ya, mate? Hugh Roberts

Pacific Highways (GriffithREVIEW 43) Julianne Schultz and Lloyd Jones (eds) Griffith University, $35.00, ISBN 9781922182241 Is New Zealand peculiarly burdened with the curse of national introspection? Even to pose the question is to succumb to that curse; or perhaps to…
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Posted in Essays, Fiction, Literature, Non-fiction, Poetry, Review, Short stories, Sociology
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