Blog Archives

Satire and sympathy, Sally Sutton

Posted on March 1, 2002 by NZ Books

The Shag Incident Stephanie Johnson Vintage, $26.95, ISBN 1869415019 When the playwright and academic Mervyn Thompson was abducted, branded a rapist, and tied to a tree by a group of feminists in 1984, I was eleven years old. I don’t…

Tagged with: Autumn 2002, Issue 57, Sally Sutton, Stephanie Johnson, Vintage
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Our very own (belated) brat-pack, Stephanie Johnson

Posted on October 27, 1999 by NZ Books

The Picnic Virgin New Writers Chosen by Emily Perkins Victoria University Press, $29.95, ISBN 0 86473 368 2 Without exception, the stories in this slim volume are lively, energetic narratives peopled with sharply drawn, vivid characters. This is the strength…

Tagged with: Emily Perkins, Issue 40, Stephanie Johnson, Victoria University Press
Posted in Literature, Review, Short stories

The right, the bright and the light, Margo White

Posted on June 1, 1999 by NZ Books

Belief Stephanie Johnson Vintage, $24.95, ISBN 1869414365 Three Pretty Widows Barbara Else Vintage, $24.95, ISBN 1869414403 Finding Tom Connor Sarah-Kate Lynch Black Swan, $24.95, ISBN 1869414314 It was a pleasure to find that the author of The Heart’s Wild…

Tagged with: Barbara Else, Black Swan, December 2000, Issue 46, Margo White, Sarah-Kate Lynch, Stephanie Johnson, Vintage
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Never trust the narrator, Nicholas Reid

Posted on October 28, 1998 by NZ Books

Playing Waterloo Peter Hawes Vintage New Zealand $24.95 ISBN 1 86941 323 7 The Whistler Stephanie Johnson Vintage New Zealand $29.95 ISBN 1 86941 346 6 What a beguiling thing alternative history is. In my teenage and post-teenage years, I…

Tagged with: Issue 35, Nicholas Reid, Peter Hawes, Stephanie Johnson, Vintage New Zealand
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Myths of reason and culture, Heather Murray

Posted on October 30, 1996 by NZ Books

The Heart’s Wild Surf Stephanie Johnson Vintage/Random House, $24.95, ISBN 1 86941 278 8 A Fancy Man Sue McCauley Vintage/Random House, $24.95, ISBN 1 86941 283 4 The Wedding at Bueno-Vista Shonagh Koea Vintage/Random House, $24.95, ISBN 1 86941 282…

Tagged with: Autumn 1996, Heather Murray, Issue 25, Shonagh Koea, Stephanie Johnson, Sue McCauley, Vintage/Random House
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

The same old plot, Colleen Reilly

Posted on March 1, 1994 by NZ Books

Like You, Really Kate Flannery, Penguin Books, $24.95 The Wife Who Spoke Japanese in Her Sleep Vivienne Plumb, Otago University Press, $24.95 Best Friends Elspeth Sandys, David Ling, $19.95 All the Tenderness Left in the World Stephanie Johnson, Otago University…

Tagged with: Autumn 1994, Issue 12, Kate Flannery, Otago University Press, Penguin Books, Stephanie Johnson, Vivienne Plumb
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Rich and disturbing detail, Lydia Wevers

Posted on March 1, 1994 by NZ Books

The Sky People and Other Stories Patricia Grace, Penguin Books, $24.95 The Ace of Diamonds Gang and Other Stories Owen Marshall, John McIndoe, $19.95 The Foreign Woman Fiona Kidman, Vintage, $19.95 All the Tenderness Left in the World Stephanie Johnson,…

Tagged with: Autumn 1994, Fiona Kidman, Issue 12, John McIndoe, Kate Flannery, Lydia Wevers, Otago University Press, Owen Marshall, Patricia Grace, Penguin Books, Stephanie Johnson, Vintage
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories

A moving figure on a static canvas, Jackie Owens

Posted on March 1, 1993 by NZ Books

Crimes of Neglect Stephanie Johnson, New Women’s Press, $21.95 Stephanie Johnson’s first novel charts the emotional wasteland of Beatrice: cellist, mother, veteran of relationships, and, in the eyes of her sisters and ex-husbands, disaster. Drifting from Teasedale to Christchurch to…

Tagged with: Autumn 1993, Issue 8, Jacqueline Owens, New Women's Press, Stephanie Johnson
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

15 writers: ‘You must read this’

Posted on December 1, 1992 by NZ Books

Tell us about the book you want to give everyone for Christmas and/or the book you hope no one gives you for Christmas, we asked twenty-four of our top writers and critics. Fifteen of them dared to respond. Jenny…

Tagged with: Brian Boyd, Charles Croot, David Eggleton, Fiona Kidman, Geoff Chapple, Issue 7, Jenny Bornholdt, Joy Cowley, Kevin Ireland, Michael King, Owen Marshall, Peter Wells, Shonagh Koea, Stephanie Johnson, Summer 1992, Tessa Duder, Witi Ihimaera
Posted in Opinion