Blog Archives

Issue 63 | June 2004

Posted on June 1, 2004 by NZ Books

Volume 14 | Number 2 | Issue 63 | June 2004 Jock Phillips: Michael King – The historian who opened our eyes (essay) Fleur Adcock: “Historian dies in fiery crash” (poem) Editorial Megan Hutching: Susan Jacobs, Fighting with the…

Tagged with: Issue 63, Spring 2003
Posted in Contents

The “Frame effect”, Patrick Evans

Posted on September 1, 2003 by NZ Books

The most famous of Janet Frame’s poems is probably the one about the little boy dying of leukaemia, “Yet Another Poem About a Dying Child”, which ends with the appearance of Death as a giant spider which gobbles the child…

Tagged with: Issue 63, Janet Frame, Patrick Evans, Spring 2003
Posted in Comment

A slippery no-man, Owen Marshall

Posted on September 1, 2003 by NZ Books

Enduring legacy – Charles Brasch, patron, poet and collector (ed) Donald Kerr University of Otago Press in association with University of Otago Library, $39.95, ISBN 1877276650 Several years ago at a reunion of those who had held Otago University’s Robert…

Tagged with: Charles Brasch, Donald Kerr, Issue 63, Otago University Press, Owen Marshall, Spring 2003, University of Otago Library
Posted in Biography, Literature, Non-fiction, Review

Poem – C K Stead

Posted on September 1, 2003 by NZ Books

Takapuna (Janet Frame 1924-2004) So, old friend, you’ve come to it at last (Ron Mason’s line, and now an echo of Yeats!). How does it feel to feel nothing? No one will ask you to read, no unmarked sheet…

Tagged with: C K Stead, Issue 63, Spring 2003
Posted in Poem

Poem – Gregory O’Brien

Posted on September 1, 2003 by NZ Books

Dominion From the morning’s politicians as they are delivered unto us shrink-wrapped and bouncing across the lawns of Hataitai deliver us, o lord—from the brash and unhumble who fall face-first, and whom daily we extract from mulch and puddle,…

Tagged with: Gregory O’Brien, Issue 63, Spring 2003
Posted in Poem

Poem – Jan Kemp

Posted on September 1, 2003 by NZ Books

Staunch (i.m. Michael King 1945 – 2004 & Maria Jungowska 1949 – 2004) I’d have wished you a gentler death in keeping with generosity & deft, liquid speech, yours of right, Michael, not this bizarre fireballing out, though your friend…

Tagged with: Issue 63, Jan Kemp, Spring 2003
Posted in Poem

Satiric barbs and Danish cross-stitch, Margot Schwass

Posted on September 1, 2003 by NZ Books

Change of heart Barbara Anderson Victoria University Press, $27.95, ISBN 0864734662 yet another ghastly christmas Shonagh Koea Vintage, $26.95, ISBN 186941568X These new novels by Barbara Anderson and Shonagh Koea sit comfortably together, like well-chosen china teacups. Their worlds have…

Tagged with: Barbara Anderson, Issue 63, Margot Schwass, Shonagh Koea, Spring 2003, Victoria University Press, Vintage
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

What’s on the menu, Shelagh Duckham Cox

Posted on September 1, 2003 by NZ Books

Songs from the Violet Café Fiona Kidman Random House, $26.95, ISBN 1869414055 In his 1984 essay “Reflections on Exile”, Edward Said remarks: Most people are principally aware of one culture, one setting, one home; exiles are aware of at least…

Tagged with: Fiona Kidman, Issue 63, Random House, Shelagh Duckham Cox, Spring 2003
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

An equal say, Barry Gustafson

Posted on September 1, 2003 by NZ Books

Adventures in Democracy. A History of the Vote in New Zealand Neill Atkinson University of Otago Press in association with the Electoral Commission, $39.95, ISBN 1877276588 Organised society depends on the existence of governments. What those governments should do and…

Tagged with: Barry Gustafson, Electoral Commission, Issue 63, Neill Atkinson, Otago University Press, Spring 2003
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Politics & Law, Review

Local and special, Stuart Murray

Posted on September 1, 2003 by NZ Books

Picking Up the Traces: The Making of a New Zealand Literary Culture 1932-1945 Lawrence Jones Victoria University Press, $49.94, ISBN 0864734557 Nationalism, and especially cultural nationalism, inhabits a position in contemporary culture that seems peculiarly complex. Easy to identify, yet…

Tagged with: Issue 63, Lawrence Jones, Spring 2003, Stuart Murray, Victoria University Press
Posted in History, Literature, Non-fiction, Review