Blog Archives

One of the survivors, Tony Simpson

A Radical Writer’s Life  Dick Scott Reed, $39.99, ISBN 0790009765 The society in which I grew up largely no longer exists, immolated in the “reforms” of the 80s and 90s. It would be wrong to consider that an entirely bad

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review

Editorial – Issue 70

Review and be damned There is in Britain a financial journalist called Peter Jay, who, when he was economics editor of The Times, famously dismissed a sub-editor’s querying of his incomprehensible copy by informing him haughtily that the article was

See more ›

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Editorial

Gardening as rebellion, Brian Turner

This Piece of Earth: A Life in My New Zealand Garden Harvey McQueen Awa Press, $34.95, ISBN 0958253838 Reading Harvey McQueen’s account of a year’s engagement with his garden has confirmed what I’ve thought for a long time: you have

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review

Unearthly mapmaking, Anna Jackson

Dreamhunter  Elizabeth Knox HarperCollins, $24.95, ISBN 0732281938 The Time of the Giants Anne Kennedy Auckland University Press, $27.99, ISBN 1869403428 Maddigan’s Fantasia Margaret Mahy HarperCollins, $24.95, ISBN 1869505611 Maddigan’s Fantasia opens with Garland Maddigan’s note to herself, “Written down things

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Young adults

Smoking documents, Anna Livesey

Hypnic Jerks Geoff Cochrane Victoria University Press, $24.95, ISBN 08647350006 Milk & Honey Michele Leggott Auckland University Press, $28.00, ISBN 1869403347 Cassandra’s Daughter Michael Harlow Auckland University Press, $25.00, ISBN 1869403320 Writing poetry – seriously writing poetry and expecting someone

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review

The sparkling, the homely and the cool, Douglas Lloyd Jenkins

Built for Us: The Work of Government and Colonial Architects, 1860s to 1960s Lewis E Martin University of Otago Press, $49.95, ISBN 1877276642 We Call It Home: A History of State Housing in New Zealand Ben Schrader Reed, $39.99, ISBN

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Architecture, History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Violence – physical, psychological, geological, Raymond Huber

Land of Milk and Honey  William Taylor HarperCollins, $16.99, ISBN 1869505492 Out on the Edge  Anna Mackenzie Longacre Press, $18.95, ISBN 1877361038 Something Wicked This Way Comes Ken Catran Scholastic, $16.99, ISBN 186943546X A Canoe in the Mist  Elsie Locke

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Woman alone, Lawrence Jones

The Captive Wife Fiona Kidman Vintage, $27.95, ISBN 1869416864   The title of The Captive Wife and the setting, New Zealand and Australia of the 1930s, lead us to expect a colonial captivity narrative, and it is present in Betty

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Tickling history, Jane Stafford

The New Zealand Wars Trilogy: The House of Strife, Monday’s Warriors, Season of the Jew  Maurice Shadbolt David Ling, $99.99, ISBN 0908990995 On August 8 this year, a ceremony was held at Parliament to unveil a plaque to Lieutenant Colonel

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Over there, Anna Rogers

Foreign City Charlotte Grimshaw Vintage, $36.95, ISBN 1869417275 Responsibility Nigel Cox Victoria University Press, $29.95, ISBN 0864734964 White Shadows: Memories of Marienbad Philip Temple Vintage, $27.95, ISBN 1869416996 I’m old enough to remember the days when a New Zealand novel

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Search the archive
Search by category