Recent New Zealand publications
Fiction
Furt Bent from Aldaheit | Jack Eden
Furt Bent is the persona Osgood Sneddon invented for himself to rise above the mundane, and extricate himself when a moment's misunderstanding lands him on the wrong side of the law. Detective Inspector Hubbard is poisonous, profane and effective, and doesn't let the truth get in the way of a result. They stalk each other in this dark, artfully written novel where Underbelly meets Shawshank.
(Pear Jam Books, December 2011)
Traces of Red | Paddy Richardson
In this psychological crime novel, Rebecca Thorne is a successful television journalist. When her Saturday night programme is axed not only will she lose her job but her big story on the convicted triple murderer Connor Bligh has to be abandoned. Bligh is clearly not a saint — but did he do it? Rebecca refuses to let the matter lie.
(Penguin, December 2011)
Poetry
China as Kafka | Vaughan Rapatahana
Rapatahana’s poems are replete with references to his Indigenous heritage in Aotearoa-New Zealand and his current exiled status as a resident also of both Hong Kong and Pampanga, Philippines, and alienation, marginalization, and alternatives are strong themes.
(Kilmog Press, November 2011)
The Same As Yes | Joan Fleming
This is a book about communication, imagination, and the wisdom of the ordinary. All of the poems are conversations, of sorts: an aging armchair talks to an arrogant window; a new mother talks to the carpet she walks on; a man and a woman talk without talking at a difficult dinner party. Joan Fleming's empathetic imagination and capacious goofy eloquence make this a notable debut.
(Victoria University Press, November 2011)
Nice Pretty Things: and Others | Rachel Bush
“My poems don't start from ideas, but from bits of language, maybe a turn of phrase that's like a tune that plays over and over in my mind . . . Writing is one way that . . . I can take on a different persona”.
(Victoria University Press, November 2011)
Non-Fiction
Dunedin Soundings | D. Bendrups, G. Downes (Eds.)
Place and Performance: the 'Dunedin Sound' of the 1980s is a phenomenon known throughout the world. But what does Dunedin music-making sound like in the 21st century? Featured here is writing from musicians, composers and practitioners, discussing genres as diverse as brass band, opera, classical, Indonesian gamelan, jazz and rock.
(Otago University Press, January 2012)
The Exercise Book | Bill Manhire et al. (Eds.)
Creative Writing Exercises from Victoria University's Institute of Modern Letters: full of stimulating trigger ideas, this book of exercises for the imagination is for those who are just beginning, or tackle the dreaded condition known as writer’s block. The contributors include staff from the creative writing programme – Ken Duncum, Bill Manhire, Chris Price, Damien Wilkins – and other leading writers.
(Victoria University Press, December 2011)
Give Your Thoughts Life | Ian St George (Ed.)
William Colenso's Letters to the Editor: the newspaper columns were the ‘public spheres’ of Colenso’s time, places for geographically separated individuals to contribute opinions to the debates of an immature democracy. These letters from the missionary, and their replies, show colonial politics to be argumentative and fervent and the rants of self-styled experts are thrilling in their vehemence.
(Otago University Press, December 2011)
Journey to Oxford | John Mulgan
Edited by Peter Whiteford: John Mulgan’s place in New Zealand literature rests on his acclaimed novel, Man Alone, and the war memoir, Report on Experience; but he also wrote this unfinished work, part memoir, part reflective essay, which dealt with his departure from New Zealand (“a small country where loveliness goes often unregarded”) and his first impressions of Oxford
(Victoria University Press, December 2011)
A Good Mail | Peter Whiteford (Ed.)
Letters of John Mulgan: The enigmatic figure of John Mulgan remains a striking presence in New Zealand culture, his sole novel, Man Alone, a landmark in the emergence of local literature. This generous selection of his letters home from abroad – letters to those he cared about, but from whom he felt a permanent separation – tell his story.
(Victoria University Press, December 2011)
He Korero: Words Between Us | Alison Jones
First Maori-Pakeha Conversations on Paper Paperback: tracing Maori engagement with handwriting from 1769 to 1826, this books describes the first encounters Maori had with paper and writing and the first relationshiops between Maori and Europeans in the earliest school.
(Huia, December 2011)
Landfall 222 | David Eggleton (Ed.)
Christchurch and Beyond: this issue of Landfall includes post-earthquake writing from a number of Christchurch and Lyttelton writers with an art portifolio by Julia Morison to close the section. There is also a tribute to Allen Curnow for the centenary of his birth and the announcements of the results of the Landfall Essay Competition 2011 and the Winner of the Kathleen Grattan Award for Poetry 2011.
(Otago University Press, November 2011)
