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New Zealand fiction? I just don’t like it!
“No, I don’t read New Zealand fiction” Having heard this over and over again I thought I would ask a few people why not? It’s all dark and gloomy. It tries too hard. Most of our writers come out of...
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Fleur Beale
As a writer you need to be a bit of a magpie. Tuck things away you hear or see. Fleur Beale is one of New Zealand’s favourite and most prolific Young Adult and Children’s authors. She’s written 40...
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Psst! – hidden treasures #5
So far, while exploring, I’ve mainly talked about old stuff in our Aotearoa New Zealand Collection. This time around I want to let you in on a little secret: whenever our library selectors buy New...
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Magpie Hall – New Zealand e-book month
There were two rumours surrounding my great-great-grandfather Henry Summers: one, that his cabinet of curiosities drove him mad; and, two, that he murdered his first wife. Rosemary Summers is an...
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The captive wife – New Zealand e-book month
When Betty Guard steps ashore in Sydney, in 1834, she meets with a heroine’s welcome. Her survival during a four-month kidnapping ordeal amongst Taranaki Maori is hailed as nothing short of a miracle....
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Novel about my wife – New Zealand e-book month
Tom Stone, skinnyish, fortyish, English, is madly in love with his wife Ann, an Australian in self-imposed exile in London. Pushing forty and expecting their first child, they buy their first,...
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Head over heels – New Zealand e-book month
Rushing from one crisis to another, Penny Rushmore has a name to live up to, coping with a demanding job and still adapting to life without her husband Steve. The first set-back comes when she hears...
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A sad tale of the librarian who stopped reading New Zealand fiction
As New Zealand Book Month comes to an end and I read of the death of Barbara Anderson I have realised that I used to read a lot of New Zealand fiction with Barbara Anderson being one of my favourites,...
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Patricia Grace: On Belonging
Last Sunday I shrugged on a heavy coat and ventured out into a grey and dismal Christchurch morning to hear two New Zealand fiction writers – Paula Morris and Patricia Grace. The On Belonging session...
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New Zealand Book Week & the Rugby World Cup!
It’s New Zealand Book Week and the final of the Rugby World Cup. How will we cope? What will we read? I’ve got it covered, so just relax and enjoy the ride. Leading up to the game. Followed by. Opening...
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Reading favourites – WORD Christchurch
Is there anything so satisfying as introducing someone to a book that you love? In librarianship it certainly falls under the categories of both personal passion and professional responsibility (see...
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Tickled Fiction – WORD Christchurch
Can Kiwi writers do comedy? New Zealand writers are repeatedly told that their work is too dark, too serious. Is this true? Three local writers got together at this event to tickle this topic. Here’s...
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The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards Longlist 2017
It’s out. The longlist for New Zealand’s most prestigious book award. Plenty of options here for reading over the summer months. A shortlist for the awards will be announced in March next year and the...
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Reading brown: Pacific stories and voices
A little while ago I saw Kiwi author Paula Morris ask on Twitter “Why aren’t you reading brown?” Why aren’t you reading brown? 20 Maori and Pasifika books to read right away. https://t.co/VGp37ifMqV...
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Fiona Farrell: Writing big and the best in Decline and fall on Savage Street
“It had to be as beautiful as I could get it.” These were the words Fiona Farrell used on Tuesday night at the launch of her new book Decline and fall on Savage Street in order to describe her...
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Kōmako: Reclaiming the Māori literary tradition
I’ve discovered a new online tool that I want to tell you about. Kōmako is an online bibliography of writing by Māori in English, which has grown out of research undertaken by Bridget Underhill at the...
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Queens of crime combine: Money in the morgue
Taking over from Dame Ngaio Marsh, one of the original Queens of Crime, would be a daunting prospect for any writer, but Stella Duffy (winner of the CWA Dagger Award, and Stonewall Writer of the Year)...
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