Nights in the Gardens of Spain Witi Ihimaera, Secker & Warburg, $34.95 On the way home years ago after seeing Waituhi (the Witi Ihimaera/ Ross Harris opera), I remember remarking that Witi could someday write the book for a great…
Stand Alone Stan, vol 2 of the quartet A Land Fit for Heroes Phillip Mann, Victor Gollancz, price not available This is Phillip Mann’s seventh book of fiction, an imaginative and philosophically coherent body of work, spanning over a decade.…
Laura’s poems Laura Ranger, Godwit, $12.95 The childhood juvenilia of famous poets is usually interesting – the first uncertain steps, the incorporation of nursery rhyme, and yes, a naivety that is pleasing. But what if a child is already a…
Laura’s Poems Laura Ranger, Godwit Publishing, $12.95 All three of us know Laura Ranger as a friend and we all agree on two things – she is a very nice person and a brilliant poet. She has endless ideas for…
How We Met Jenny Bornholdt, Victoria University Press, $19.95 Simplicity in writing – as in life – is a very complicated matter, difficult to achieve and uncertain in its effect. Simplicity in poetry is usually achieved by sacrificing content and…
Crown Proposals for the Settlement of Treaty of Waitangi Claims Hon Douglas Graham, Department of Justice Though the text of the Crown Proposals is a good deal less euphoric in tone than the hype which accompanied their release in December,…
Painted Histories: Early Maori figurative painting Roger Neich, Auckland University Press, $79.95 In the late 1960s I slept for the first time in the meeting house Te-Poho-o-Hinekura at Te Kuha near Lake Waikaremoana. I was astonished by the faded blue…
Now for Spinoza, Neville Bennett
Nobel Prize for literature Recently I met Oe Kenzaburo, the Japanese novelist who won this year’s Nobel Prize for literature. To the envy of a group of bystanders, Mr Oe spoke to me and autographed my “meishi” or business card.…
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