Blog Archives
One whole thing, Martin Edmond
Towards a Promised Land: On the Life and Art of Colin McCahon Gordon Brown Auckland University Press, $79.99, ISBN 9781869404529 As I began to read the 16 essays, plus introduction, that make up Gordon Brown’s Towards a Promised Land, I…
Tagged with: Auckland University Press, Colin McCahon, Gordon Brown, Issue 90, Martin Edmond, Winter 2010
Posted in Art, Essays, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Art, Essays, Non-fiction, Review
Building on bones, Eric Medcalf
No Other Home Than This John Andrews Craig Potton Publishing, $49.99, ISBN 9781877517082 John Andrews must be a very curious man. This is a book that reflects a life of curiosity, of love for his profession, his humanity and his…
Tagged with: Craig Potton Publishing, Eric Medcalf, Issue 90, John Andrews, Winter 2010
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review
Obituary — J C Sturm
J C Sturm (1927-2009) In 1927 a daughter was born at Opunake in Taranaki to a young Maori couple named Mary and Jack Papuni. They named their baby Te Kare, but the little girl would never know her mother, who…
Virtually naive, Hamish Clayton
Dick Frizzell: The Painter Dick Frizzell Godwit, $75.00; ISBN 9781869621742 It’s funny how an established artist’s moment can seem to arrive suddenly second time around with an exceptionally appealing – almost unbelievable – narrative logic. After the remarkable debut and…
Tagged with: Dick Frizzell, Godwit, Hamish Clayton, Issue 90, Winter 2010
Posted in Art, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Art, Non-fiction, Review
Letters – Issue 90
What’s in a name? John O’Leary in his review of Dominic Alessio’s edition of The Great Romance by “The Inhabitant” (NZB Autumn 2010) comments “we do not know who wrote it”. But the National Library’s wonderful searchable site of New…
Paddling on, Harvey Molloy
A Canoe in Midstream: Poems New and Old Apirana Taylor Canterbury University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9781877257797 This year I taught a class of bright year nine students an introductory unit on poetry based on Jewels in the Water, an anthology…
Tagged with: Apirana Taylor, Canterbury University Press, Harvey Molloy, Issue 90, Winter 2010
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Lofty ideals and fatal flaws, Alan Ward
Encircled Lands: Te Urewera, 1820-1921 Judith Binney Bridget Williams Books, $79.99, ISBN 9781877242441 This is arguably the most important book on Maori-Pakeha relations to be published in the last quarter-century, unlikely to be equalled in this generation. Its importance stems…
Tagged with: Alan Ward, Bridget Williams Books, Issue 90, Judith Binney, Winter 2010
Posted in History, Māori, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in History, Māori, Non-fiction, Review
The voice of the monster, Bernard Carpinter
Blood Men Paul Cleave Black Swan, $36.99, ISBN 978869792718 Containment Vanda Symon Penguin Books, $28.00, ISBN 9780143202295 Cut and Run Alix Bosco Penguin Books, $37.00, ISBN 9780143011910 What Remains Behind Dorothy Fowler Black Swan, $29.99, ISBN 9781869792084 New Zealand’s reputation…
Tagged with: Alix Bosco, Bernard Carpinter, Black Swan, Dorothy Fowler, Issue 90, Paul Cleave, Penguin Books, Vanda Symon, Winter 2010
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Poem – John Newton
The Assassination of Kenneth Koch At old St Mark’s, in the bowels of the Bowery, he reads from his mighty poem for peace, wherein are contained, by his own estimation, all the Pleasures of Peace that there could possibly…