Blog Archives
Gothic NZ: The Darker Side of Kiwi Culture Misha Kavka, Jennifer Lawn, Mary Paul (eds) Otago University Press, $39.95, ISBN 1877372234 Strange goings-on in small towns. You know all about it – it’s the New Zealand gothic. It’s a familiar…
New Zealand as it Might Have Been Stephen Levine (ed) Victoria University Press, $35.00, ISBN 0864735456 “Counterfactual” is the term preferred by the 15 writers here, who are mostly historians or political scientists, and mostly based at Victoria University of…
David Larsen reviews this year’s Auckland Writers Festival from a safe distance. I thought we were going to need a doctor. An elderly woman two rows in front of me was clasping her chest, twisting awkwardly in her seat. She…
Nest Consider this pouch of air, thatch of cloud, tightly woven against a sky loosely strung. This swirl of wind is threaded to miracles. In this scoop of heaven, time coddles echoes, joggle of eggs, shuffle of fledglings, in…
The Governors: New Zealand’s Governors and Governors-General Gavin McLean Otago University Press, $59.95, ISBN 1877372250 Amassing Treasures for All Times: Sir George Grey, Colonial Bookman and Collector Donald Jackson Kerr Otago University Press, $59.95, ISBN 1877372218 Gavin McLean’s book is,…
Book editor Anna Rogers on why even the best authors need saving from themselves. For most people, a menu is a list of food choices. For an editor, a menu is a test: can the restaurateurs (not the restauranteurs) spell…
The Smell of an Oily Rag Cherry Simmonds Random House, $27.99, ISBN 1869418492 Purple Heart Ta’afuli Andrew Fiu Random House, $27.99, ISBN 1869418042 A New Zealand joke, current in the 1970s, entailed asking how one knew when a 747 carrying…
The Six Pack: Winning Writing from New Zealand Book Month 2006 John Campbell (introduction) New Zealand Book Month with Whitireia Publishing, $6.00, ISBN 1877192279 The Best New Zealand Fiction 3 Fiona Kidman (ed) Vintage, $34.99, ISBN 1869417976 Sunday 22: The…
Tagged with:
Fiona Kidman,
Huia,
Issue 79,
Jack Ross,
Jenny DeBell,
John Campbell,
New Zealand Book Month,
Owen Marshall,
Reed,
Selina Tusitala Marsh,
Spring 2007,
Tina Shaw,
Vintage,
Whitireia Publishing
Posted in
Fiction,
Literature,
Review,
Short stories
Ghosts of Gondwana: The History of Life in New Zealand George Gibbs Craig Potton Publishing, $49.99, ISBN 1877333484 Extinct Birds of New Zealand Alan Tennyson and Paul Martinson Te Papa Press, $64.99, ISBN 0909010218 Ghosts of Gondwana is a remarkable…
Blame Vermeer Vincent O’Sullivan Victoria University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9780864735515 The Black River C K Stead Auckland University Press, $25.00, ISBN 978869403850 Sol Andrew Johnston Victoria University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9789864735492 The Ponies Bernadette Hall Victoria University Press, $25.00, ISBN…
Tagged with:
Andrew Johnston,
Auckland University Press,
Bernadette Hall,
C K Stead,
Hazard Press,
Issue 79,
Kevin Ireland,
Michael Hulse,
Spring 2007,
Victoria University Press,
Vincent O’Sullivan
Posted in
Literature,
Poetry,
Review
Red pen pedants, Anna Rogers
Posted in Comment