He Pitopito Korero no te Perehi Maori: Readings from the Maori-language Press Jenifer Curnow, Ngapare Hopa and Jane McRae (eds) Auckland University Press, $39.99, ISBN 1869403592 Colonial Discourses: Niupepa Maori 1855-1863 Lachy Paterson Otago University Press, $39.95, ISBN 1877372269 Friends,…
Whim Wham’s New Zealand: The Best of Whim Wham 1937-1988 Terry Sturm (ed) Vintage, $34.99, ISBN 1869417577 It is by now no secret that Allen Curnow, a man with few rivals for the title of “New Zealand’s Greatest Poet”,…
I Am Always With You Philip Temple Random, $34.99, ISBN 1869417739 The Viewing Platform Ian Wedde Penguin, $29.95, ISBN 9780143020929 Local writers Stevan Eldred-Grigg (Kaput!) and Tina Shaw (The Black Madonna) have found imaginative inspiration in wartime Berlin, and now…
Bright Star: Beatrice Hill Tinsley Astronomer Christine Cole Catley Cape Catley, $49.99, ISBN 1877340014 I can offer the usual apologia for astronomy. There’s its significance as a global employer (NASA alone pays 20,000 salaries). Its contributions to other sciences, such…
Degrees of Separation Laurence Fearnley Penguin, $28.00, ISBN 0143020579 Relative Strangers Emma Neale Vintage, $27.99, ISBN 1869417828 Work in Progress Paul Thomas Black Swan, $27.99, ISBN 1869418255 Shanghai Boy Stevan Eldred-Grigg Vintage, $27.99, ISBN 1869417933 If I didn’t know…
The Origins of China’s Awareness of New Zealand, 1674-1911 William Tai Yuen New Zealand Asia Institute, The University of Auckland, $25.00, ISBN 0473104245 Unreal City: A Chinese Poet in Auckland Yang Lian (ed Jacob Edmond and Hilary Chung) Auckland University…
John Wright’s Indian Summers John Wright with Sharda Ugra and Paul Thomas Hodder Moa Beckett, $49.99, ISBN 9781869710620 In a sport largely populated by talented solipsists, former New Zealand captain John Wright has always stood out within cricket for his…
Casual labour, Paula Morris
Paula Morris spurns “fulltime-writer” status Next time you wander into a bookshop and start rowsing, turn directly to the author’s brief biography – possibly on the back cover, or a few pages into the book. If the novel in question…
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