Blog Archives
Poem – Fleur Adcock
Elegy for Alistair in mem Alistair Campbell (1925-2009) Now he is dead, who wrote “Now he is dead, who talked of wild places and skies inhabited by the hawk” – thereby captivating readers and composers, envious fellow-poets, multiple admirers…
Obituary — Alistair Te Ariki Campbell
Alistair Te Ariki Campbell (1925-2009) A death at the age of 84 cannot be called unexpected. But at any age the loss of a person close to us leaves an absence that will not be filled. In the case of…
Trail-blazing, Harvey McQueen
Helen Clark: A Political Life Denis Welch Penguin Books, $40.00, ISBN 9780143202417 I admire Helen Clark, and I was pleased to be asked to review this book. Unlike David Lange, who flashed meteor-like across the parliamentary firmament, Clark became a…
Tagged with: Denis Welch, Harvey McQueen, Helen Clark, Issue 88, Penguin Books, Summer 2009
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review
Deeds not dolls, Bill Hastings
In the Footsteps of Ethel Benjamin: New Zealand’s First Woman Lawyer Janet November Victoria University Press, $50.00, ISBN 9780864736079 The title is important. Janet November has not, in fact, written a biography of Ethel Benjamin, New Zealand’s first woman lawyer.…
Tagged with: Bill Hastings, Ethel Benjamin, Issue 88, Janet November, Summer 2009, Victoria University Press
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Happenstance, Martin Edmond
Chance is a Fine Thing Philip Temple Vintage, $36.99, ISBN 9781869419851 In his preface to Chance is a Fine Thing, Philip Temple – writer, mountaineer, campaigner, explorer and historian – essays a distinction between memoir and autobiography. The latter, he…
Tagged with: Issue 88, Martin Edmond, Philip Temple, Summer 2009, Vintage
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
There and now, Janet Wilson
Floating Worlds: Essays on Contemporary New Zealand Fiction Anna Jackson and Jane Stafford (eds) Victoria University Press, $40.00, ISBN 9780864736017 The increased tempo of public debate in the last decade over issues such as public policy and the arts, canon…
Tagged with: Anna Jackson, Issue 88, Jane Stafford, Janet Wilson, Summer 2009, Victoria University Press
Posted in Essays, Literature, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Essays, Literature, Non-fiction, Review
Something out of Dante’s Inferno, David Grant
Kiwi Compañeros: New Zealand and the Spanish Civil War Mark Derby (ed) Canterbury University Press, $45.00, ISBN 9781877257711 For the great bulk of New Zealanders between 1936 and 1939 the Spanish Civil War was like any other civil war; it…
Tagged with: Canterbury University Press, David Grant, Issue 88, Mark Derby, Summer 2009
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, War
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, War
Stitches in time, Janet Hughes
The Blind Singer Chris Price Auckland University Press, $24.99, ISBN 9781869404338 Vivid Familiar Stephanie de Montalk Victoria University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9780864735980 The Tram Conductor’s Blue Cap Michael Harlow Auckland University Press, $24.99, ISBN 9781869404307 Pocket Edition Geoff Cochrane Victoria…
Tagged with: Auckland University Press, Chris Price, Geoff Cochrane, Issue 88, Janet Hughes, Michael Harlow, Stephanie de Montalk, Summer 2009, Victoria University Press
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Innocence, disruption, death, Tom Brooking
Aphrodite’s Island: The European Discovery of Tahiti Anne Salmond Viking, $65.00, ISBN 9780670073962 The publication of a new book by Anne Salmond is always an occasion worth celebrating and savouring. Aphrodite’s Island, about the European discovery of, and encounter with,…
Tagged with: Anne Salmond, Issue 88, Summer 2009, Tom Brooking, Viking
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review
Courier to Times New Roman — Paula Boock
Posted in Comment