Blog Archives

Local practice v wider trends, Stuart Murray

Opening the Book: New Essays on New Zealand Writing Mark Williams and Michele Leggott (eds) Auckland University Press, $39.95, ISBN 1869401158 Ending the Silences: Critical Essays on the Works of Maurice Shadbolt Ralph J Crane (ed) Hodder Moa Beckett, $24.95,

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Posted in Literature, Review

A timely if belated project, Lydia Wevers

The history of the book in New Zealand conference Auckland University, 29 August ‑ 1 September New Zealand is rather belatedly picking up the history of the book as a major research area; most western countries are well into a

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Posted in Literature

When the twain did meet, Janet Wilson

The gigantic stage in the vast, half‑filled auditorium of the Moscow State Pedagogical University is dominated by an image of the head of Mikhail Bakhtin above the dates 1895 (the year of his birth) to 1995. At its edges stand

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Posted in Literature

Ending the century, Lauris Edmond

Fête Accomplie a New Zealander’s Culinary Romance  Peta Mathias Random House, $24.95, ISBN 1869412486 Here is a test. Do you order your dinner in a restaurant in the French of the menu or do you use the small print translation

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Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review

Standing upright here, Hugh Roberts

Cinema of Unease  Sam Neill and Judy Rymer Top Shelf Productions, British Film Institute, New Zealand Film Commission … and other recent New Zealand film The third and fourth generations Begin to speak differently, Suffering mutations, Cannot help identity; Nation’s

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Posted in Art, Non-fiction, Review

Why she did it, Margaret Clark

Making a Difference Ruth Richardson Shoal Bay Press, $29.95, ISBN 0908704313 When Ruth Richardson announced last year that she was leaving Parliament, journalists at the press conference asked if she was bitter. “I do not have a bitter bone in

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Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review

When “liberal and progressive” was OK, Simon Upton

Coates of Kaipara Michael Bassett Auckland University Press, $39.95, ISBN 1 869401174 For over a decade now public policy in New Zealand has been heavily infused with theory. Politicians have embraced expert advisers and internalised the “science” of economics with

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Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review

Work and community, Len Richardson

Building the New World: Work, Politics and Society in Caversham, 1880s‑1920s Erik Olssen Auckland University Press, $39.95, ISBN 1869401069 Work and play, the polar opposites commonly held to preoccupy that indefinable beast “the ordinary New Zealander” have not attracted quite

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Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

A time of transition, Margaret Tennant

Her Work and His. Family Kin and Community in New Zealand 1900-1930 Claire Toynbee Victoria University Press, $34.95, ISBN 0864732848 Dialogue between historians and sociologists in New Zealand has been very limited. Where historians have acknowledged historical writing by sociologists,

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Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Breaking the silence, Katherine Findlay

The Middle Bridge: A New Zealand childhood Sheryl Jennings Tandem Press, $19.95, ISBN 0 908884508 Warriors of Truth: Adult Survivors Healing from Childhood Sexual Abuse Kim McGregor University of Otago Press, $29.95, ISBN 0 90856984X Invisible Wounds: A Self‑help Guide

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Posted in Gender, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
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