Blog Archives
In the beginning, Peter Russell
Peter Russell looks at his childhood reading through the eyes of Ovid. At the time when the story opens, a little boy named Maui … was playing on the sea-shore. He was so happy, picking up shells and watching the…
The universe and everything, Philip Temple
Waimarino County and Other Excursions Martin Edmond Auckland University Press, $35.00, ISBN 9781869403911 Phone Home Berlin – Collected Non-fiction Nigel Cox Victoria University Press, $35.00, ISBN 9780864735676 The revival of the essay in book form continues compensating, to our applause,…
Tagged with: Issue 81, Martin Edmond, Nigel Cox, Philip Temple, Victoria University Press, Winter 2008
Posted in Essays, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Essays, Non-fiction, Review
From stage to page, Laurie Atkinson
Three Plays Gary Henderson Playmarket, $24.95, ISBN 9780908607303 Two Plays Toa Fraser Playmarket, $22.95, ISBN 9780907310 Does anyone read plays any more? Go into any of our major bookshops and you’ll have difficulty finding shelves devoted to “Drama” or “Theatre”.…
Tagged with: Gary Henderson, Issue 82, Laurie Atkinson, Playmarket, Toa Fraser, Winter 2008
Posted in Literature, Plays, Review
Posted in Literature, Plays, Review
Skewed unforgettable normalities, Catharina van Bohemen
At the End of Darwin Road – A Memoir Fiona Kidman Vintage, $34.99, ISBN 9781869419448 Muck: A Memoir Craig Sherborne Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9780864735683 Digging for Spain: A Writer’s Journey Penelope Todd Longacre Press, $29.99, ISBN 9781877361968 “The…
Tagged with: Catharina van Bohemen, Craig Sherborne, Fiona Kidman, Issue 81, Longacre Press, Penelope Todd, Victoria University Press, Vintage, Winter 2008
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Rough justice, Tom Brooking
The Newest Country in the World: A History of New Zealand in the Decade of the Treaty Paul Moon Penguin Books, $39.95, ISBN 978014300670 Paul Moon is one of the most prolific historians currently holding an academic position (Moon is…
Tagged with: Issue 82, Paul Moon, Penguin Books, Tom Brooking, Winter 2008
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review
Likely stories, James C Raymond
Falling for Science: Asking the Big Questions Bernard Beckett Longacre Press, $39.99, ISBN 9781877361722 Imagine yourself in Egypt in the third century BC. You believe the earth is round – what else would cause ships’ masts to appear before their…
Tagged with: Bernard Beckett, Issue 81, James C Raymond, Longacre Press, Winter 2008
Posted in Non-fiction, Science
Posted in Non-fiction, Science
Wholemeal, Louise O’Brien
Drybread Owen Marshall Vintage, $27.95, ISBN 9781869419196 Drybread is Owen Marshall’s third novel, adding to an already rich body of work. His last novel, Harlequin Rex, won the Montana New Zealand Book Awards Deutz Medal for Fiction in 2000. Indeed,…
Tagged with: Issue 81, Louise O’Brien, Owen Marshall, Vintage, Winter 2008
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Obituary — Ruth Dallas
Ruth Dallas (1919-2008) Dunedin writer Ruth Dallas was born in Invercargill into a working-class settler family, which informed her writing. She published 20 books, mainly poetry and books for children. Her most recent poetry collection, The Joy of a Ming…
Poem — Elizabeth Smither
Naming a telescope (for David Hill) What to call your new telescope? Presuming like a ship it must be female though its shape suggests otherwise and the way you aim it definitely male the fiddling to set it up,…