Blog Archives
Editorial – Issue 51
All in the same nest The Germans have a word for it: Nestbeschmutzung. It literally means “fouling the nest”, but it has a more general meaning of “putting down your own kind”. This is in effect what Rosemary McLeod did…
“Bugger the dragonflies”, Bernard Carpinter
Shirker Chad Taylor Allen & Unwin, $35, ISBN 0862419026 A defenestration (nice word, eh?) makes an arresting beginning to Chad Taylor’s third novel. Especially as the defenestree is the narrator. Just how Ellerslie Penrose came to be flying out of…
Tagged with: Allen & Unwin, Bernard Carpinter, Cape Catley, Chad Taylor, December 2001, Gian Bordin, Graeme Lay, Issue 51, REA
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Letters – Issue 51
Biography and ventriloquism It is not normally my practice to reply to reviews or reviewers: authors have their say in books, then reviewers have theirs in reviews. The danger in not replying to wrong-headed comments, however, is that readers imagine…
Subliminal euphonies, Cilla McQueen
Realia Kate Camp Victoria University Press, $24.95, ISBN 0864734204 deep down musical hearts beat for no reason no apparent reason (“Beats”) I like the sound of Kate Camp. She has an ear for a harmonic beat within the…
Tagged with: Cilla McQueen, December 2001, Issue 51, Kate Camp, Victoria University Press
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Issue 51 | December 2001
Volume 11 | Number 5 | Issue 51 | December 2001 Dale Williams: John McCrystal, The Cars We Loved; John Bluck, Killing Us Softly: The Kiwi Culture of Complaint; Richard Wolfe and Stephen Barnett, Kiwiana! The Sequel Editorial Correspondence…
Laughter in the dark, Terry Locke
No Joke Mark Pirie Sudden Valley Press, $22.95, ISBN 0958209103 Excuse me, would you mind putting me on to Mark Pirie… if that’s his real name. Oh, it is? Yes, thank you. Look, Mark, I thought you might like some…
Tagged with: December 2001, Issue 51, Mark Pirie, Sudden Valley Press, Terry Locke
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Stone upon stone, David Eggleton
Collected Poems 1967-1999 Bill Manhire Victoria University Press, ISBN 086473411 (paperback), $34.95 ISBN 0864734212 (hardback) $49.95 In this Collected Poems, the private universe of Bill Manhire is made readily available to his ever-increasing audience. But it may take years and…
Tagged with: Bill Manhire, David Eggleton, December 2001, Issue 51, Victoria University Press
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Pulling no punches, Sue Court
Music in New Zealand: A Reader from the 1940s ed Allan Thomas University of Canterbury School of Music, $25, ISBN 090871808X What does an anthology of source readings, soberly titled Music in New Zealand: A Reader from the 1940s have…
Tagged with: Allan Thomas, December 2001, Issue 51, Sue Court, University of Canterbury School of Music
Posted in History, Music, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in History, Music, Non-fiction, Review
Poem – Mary Macpherson
Chiaroscuro (for Terry) It’s clear how quickly darkness swims up the gums – there’s light and shadow, then the silver trunks and tossed heads are gone. Bats call in darkness. I’ve seen this in Auckland too – a city…
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…