Blog Archives

Short stories as selfless, Christine Johnston

Posted on December 5, 2014 by NZ Books

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 in common, offer individual visions of the contemporary world. The Red Queen is Gemma Bowker-Wright’s first book, and the latter publication is Breton Dukes’s second. (Bird North appeared in 2011 to some acclaim.) These authors certainly aren’t novices.

Tagged with: Breton Dukes, Christine Johnston, Gemma Bowker-Wright, Issue 108, Summer 2014, Victoria University Press
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories

Ducking for cover, Christine Johnston

Posted on August 30, 2013 by NZ Books

The Elusive Language of Ducks Judith White Random House, $38.00, ISBN 9781775532798 Judith White’s themes are the big ones – old-age, decline and death; sex, love and the betrayal of love. Her characters have an inner life but they also…

Tagged with: Christine Johnston, Issue 103, Judith White, Random House, Spring 2013
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Nothing sacred, Christine Johnston

Posted on March 1, 2013 by NZ Books

Risk C K Stead MacLehose Press, $30.00, ISBN 9780857052230 C K Stead is a towering figure in New Zealand writing – a distinguished novelist, literary critic, poet, essayist and emeritus professor of English of the University of Auckland. He has…

Tagged with: Autumn 2013, C K Stead, Christine Johnston, Issue 101, MacLehose Press
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

They wrote it

Posted on December 1, 2011 by NZ Books

Call me Hairy Past back-page contest entrants showcase their talent. Wince-making dedication To my late wife without whose unfailing stimulus and example this novel of infidelity and retribution could never have been written. Christine Johnston Haiku…

Tagged with: Anne Else, Barbara Else, Christine Johnston, Issue 96, Joe Baker, Miro Bilbrough, Sue Wooton, Summer 2011
Posted in Comment

Putting yourself on the line, Christine Johnson

Posted on September 1, 2011 by NZ Books

The Commonplace Book: A Writer’s Journey Through Quotations Elizabeth Smither Auckland University Press, $34.99, ISBN 9781869404765 How the Land Lies: Of Longing and Belonging Pat White Victoria University Press, $35.00, ISBN 9780864736383 “[A] memoir is how one remembers one’s own…

Tagged with: Auckland University Press, Christine Johnston, Elizabeth Smither, Issue 95, Pat White, Spring 2011, Victoria University Press
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review

Love and war, Christine Johnston

Posted on March 1, 2010 by NZ Books

Ned and Katina: A True Love Story Patricia Grace Penguin Books, $40.00, ISBN 9780143007401 Who could resist a love story set on Crete in 1945? Obviously Patricia Grace couldn’t. The celebrated author was approached by Ned’s and Katina’s family with…

Tagged with: Autumn 2010, Christine Johnston, Issue 89, Patricia Grace, Penguin Books
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review

Waiting for sunshine Christine Johnston

Posted on September 1, 2009 by NZ Books

Singularity Charlotte Grimshaw Vintage, $32.99, ISBN 9781869791384 Relief Anna Taylor Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9780864735874 These new publications by young female authors appear at first glance to have quite a lot in common. Take the single-word abstract-noun titles. Take…

Tagged with: Anna Taylor, Charlotte Grimshaw, Christine Johnston, Issue 87, Spring 2009, Victoria University Press, Vintage
Posted in Literature, Review, Short stories

Obituary — Dianne Ruth Pettis

Posted on December 1, 2008 by NZ Books

Dianne Ruth Pettis (1955-2008) Dianne Ruth Pettis was a fiction writer and poet, who published under the name Ruth Pettis. She was born in Waipawa in Hawke’s Bay and worked as a journalist, a script writer for the Natural History…

Tagged with: Christine Johnston, Dianne Ruth Pettis, Issue 84, Summer 2008
Posted in Obituaries

Snapshots, Christine Johnston

Posted on September 1, 2008 by NZ Books

The Best New Zealand Fiction Volume 4 Fiona Farrell (ed), Vintage, $34.99, ISBN 9781869418779 The Girl Who Proposed: New Short Stories Elizabeth Smither Cape Catley, $29.99, ISBN 9781877340130 Here and There, Now and Then Isa Moynihan Earl of Seacliff Art…

Tagged with: Cape Catley, Christine Johnston, Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, Elizabeth Smither, Fiona Farrell, Isa Moynihan, Issue 83, Spring 2008, Vintage
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories

On a wing and a prayer, Christine Johnston

Posted on December 1, 2007 by NZ Books

How to Watch a Bird Steve Braunias Awa Press, $24.99, ISBN 9780958262965 Steve Braunias is preaching to the converted in the case of this reviewer, who lives within cooee of native bush and shallow water. I can admire white-faced herons…

Tagged with: Awa Press, Christine Johnston, Issue 80, Steve Braunias, Summer 2007
Posted in Natural History, Non-fiction, Review