Blog Archives

Poem – C K Stead

Three to the Left   1 Vivienne   Today was her send-off. In a plywood coffin hand-painted with flowers she was laid out on trestles in the Trades Hall, eighty-four years of Stalinist conviction leavened by jokes.   Tunelessly interspersed with reminiscence…
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Posted in Poem

Scarred by difference, Ruth Nichol

Lucky Bastard Peter Wells Vintage, $27.99, ISBN 9781869419431 At a recent funeral for a friend’s father many of us were surprised – and surprisingly moved – when a uniformed soldier played The Last Post. It struck a sombre note during…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

More management, less education, Tim Hazledine

Crisis of Identity? The Mission and Management of Universities in New Zealand Wilf Malcolm and Nicholas Tarling  Dunmore Press, $39.95, ISBN 9781877399275 Clark Kerr, a great president of the University of California at Berkeley, once defined the university as “a…
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Posted in Non-fiction, Review

Self-portrait with wooden spoon, Lois Daish

The Kindness of Strangers: Kitchen Memoirs Shonagh Koea (illustrations by Peter Wells) Vintage, $34.99, ISBN 9781869419189  It wasn’t in her own mother’s kitchen that the young Shonagh found out food could make her happy. Things at home were a bit…
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Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review

Risky enterprises, Elizabeth Caffin

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…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Still in tune, Brent Southgate

A Nest of Singing Birds:100 years of the New Zealand School Journal Gregory O’Brien Learning Media, $59.95, ISBN 9780790319636 It has almost no equivalent elsewhere. Margaret Mahy has called it a “national treasure”. For many, it has been the beginning…
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Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review

Friends and other strangers, Murray Bramwell

Playing Friends Marilyn Duckworth Vintage, $27.99, ISBN 9781869418694 Trendy But Casual Paula Morris Penguin Books, $28.00, ISBN 9780143006398 It’s that time in later middle age when school reunions have become like a dawn (or twilight) parade of veterans and survivors.…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Porridge stirring, John Horrocks

The Problem of Prisons: Correction Reform in New Zealand since 1840 Greg Newbold Dunmore Press, $49.95, ISBN 9790187399213 Mt Eden Prison in Auckland speaks of an era when punishment and incarceration were very visible. Its turreted buildings of black volcanic…
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Posted in History, Non-fiction, Politics & Law, Review

Breaking free, Jill Holt

The Dumpster Saga Craig Harrison Scholastic New Zealand, $16.99,  ISBN 9781869438166 Salt Maurice Gee  Puffin, $17.95, ISBN 9780143303350 The Sea-wreck Stranger Anna Mackenzie  Longacre Press, $18.99, ISBN 9781877361883 It’s hard to imagine and salutary to recall that many teenagers do…
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Posted in Children, Fiction, Literature, Review, Young adults

Obituary — Bernard Gadd

Bernard Gadd (1935-2007) Writer Bernard Gadd, who died in December last year, was an Auckland teacher, anthologist and poet, whose work was widely published in literary journals. He also founded his own imprint, Hallard Press. Bernard was a tireless contributor…
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Posted in Obituaries
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