Blog Archives

Is the book launch dead? Graeme Lay

Comment Auckland novelist Graeme Lay muses upon book launches past, present and future. There was a time when a book, upon publication, had to be launched. The venue was usually a much-loved bookshop, chosen in the hope that love for…
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Posted in Comment

Worlds old and new, Nicholas Reid

Purgatory Rosetta Allan Penguin, $30.00 ISBN 9780143571025 James Cook’s New World Graeme Lay Fourth Estate, $37.00 ISBN 9781775540410 There’s one current phenomenon in New Zealand literature that I’m watching with great interest. It’s the fact that, with a few honourable…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Knowing their stuff, Anna Rogers

The Phoenix Song John Sinclair Victoria University Press, $38.00, ISBN 9780864738257 The Secret Life of James Cook: A Novel Graeme Lay HarperCollins, $37.00, ISBN 9781775540120 “It takes a great deal of history,” wrote Henry James in 1879, “to produce a…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Another country, Catharina van Bohemen

Alice and Luigi Graeme Lay David Ling, $29.99, ISBN 1877378070 In Touch with Grace Jenny Pattrick Black Swan, $27.99, ISBN 1869417674 As we grow older,  we look over our shoulders. We want to see where we came from, whether our…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature

A million miles from Palmerston North, Linley Boniface

The Miss Tutti Frutti Contest: Travel Tales of the South Pacific Graeme Lay Awa Press, $29.95, ISBN 0958250901 Liars and Lovers: A Travel Memoir Diane Brown Vintage, $26.95, ISBN 1869416147 As a child, I used to read adventure stories featuring…
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Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review

Speaking frankly of Frank and James K, Stevan Eldred-Grigg

An Affair of the Heart: A Celebration of Frank Sargeson’s Centenary ed Graeme Lay and Stephen Stratford Cape Catley, $49.99, ISBN 0908561938 O Jerusalem – James K Baxter: An Intimate Memoir Mike Minehan Hazard Press, $24.95, ISBN 1877270385 Two icons…
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Posted in Essays, Literature, Memoir, Non-fiction, Review

“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…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Babes and Biggles, Louise Wrightson

Spectacular Babies ed Bill Manhire HarperCollins, $24.95, ISBN 1869503775 Boys’ Own Stories: Short Stories by New Zealand Men ed Graeme Lay Tandem Press, $24.95, ISBN 1877178691 Five years ago, I remember jumping up and down in frustration in front of…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories

Love and other animals, Susan Paris

Return to One Foot Island  Graeme Lay Penguin, $18.95, ISBN 0141313706 Peri Penelope Todd Longacre, $14.95, ISBN 1877135658 Owl  Joanna Orwin Longacre, $16.95, ISBN 1877135585 50 Short Short Stories by Young New Zealanders  ed Graeme Lay Tandem Press, $19.95, ISBN…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories, Young adults

Apocalypse Soon, David Hill

Power and Chaos Paula Boock Random House, $14.95, ISBN 1869414357 The Wave Rider Graeme Lay Penguin, $15.95, ISBN 014139028X Red Cliff Bernard Beckett Longacre, $14.95, ISBN 1877135429 A Whistle from the Blunder Diana Noonan Longacre, $14.95, ISBN 1877135402   About…
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Posted in Children, Fiction, Literature, Review, Young adults
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