The release of the Montana New Zealand Book Awards Finalists earlier this week unleashed something of a literary tempest. Graham “Bookman” Beattie declared on his blog that the judges’ decision to shortlist just four – rather than the usual five – books in the fiction category would “create the greatest controversy” around the awards in many years. And he’s done his best to ensure his prediction comes true. Read more »
From: The Propaganda Poster Girl by Amy Brown
Another stand-alone novel from the author of the wildly successful and somewhat annoying Shopaholic series, Remember Me? is an easy read to be chewed through in hours. Lexi Smart wakes from a coma to discover that she has forgotten the past three years, in which she has somehow managed to become beautiful, land a rich and gorgeous husband and soar from lowly slave to top executive at her flooring company. Read more »
Non-fiction Takes a Bow in This Year’s Montana New Zealand Book Awards Finalist Line-up.The quality and scholarship of the non-fiction finalists are the stand outs among the more than 220 books entered in this year’s Montana New Zealand Book Awards. Read more »
New Zealand writer, thinker and public servant Dr. William Ball Sutch (1907-1975) was an intellectual giant in a country characterised by a culture of anti-intellectualism. Sutch was one of the country’s top public servants through the ‘Cold War’ period. He was economic adviser to two Ministers of Finance and Secretary-General of New Zealand’s first delegation to the United Nations after World War II. He was a best-selling author and popular commentator. Read more »
Abortion has always been a hard sell.
You can’t go around saying you’re for it (you have to agree with the opposition and say you’d like to see the numbers go down); the people who’ve had one won’t help you because they don’t want to talk about it (they fear the stigma, and don’t like the idea of being called a murderer by complete strangers); the church is against you and so are the visuals (the opposition has magnified images of fetuses, you have photos of women holding “My Body, My Choice” placards); instead of fighting for something concrete (saving whales and harp seals or helping cyclone victims), you’re stuck with advancing the cause of a shiftless concept (choice). Read more »
The slander continues. That an historian, economist and writer of W B Sutch’s standing is best remembered for a botched attempt by the “Security Intelligence Service” to have him convicted of treason is a tragedy. Sutch’s SIS file released last week is interesting both for what’s included and what’s not. The spooks noted that his nickname was “Greasy” during his teaching years – but were unable to establish with certainty that his eyes were brown. Read more »
From: small humours of DAYLIGHT by Tom Weston
The Louise Nicholas case has probably generated more gossip, discussion and talkback vitriol than just about any other court case in the past 15 years. The harrowing saga of abuse of a teenage girl by a ring of serving police officers seems to have polarised people into the ‘she was a victim’ and the ‘she could have said no’ camps and will probably become one of those seminal stories—such as that which led to the 1987 cervical cancer inquiry—that makes us question values we as a country hold dear. Read more »
The Wellington Children’s Book Association has a panel discussion for its AGM, entitled ‘What Publishers Want’. Award winning publisher, Julia Marshall from Gecko Press, plus Gilt Edge and South Pacific Press discuss what they are looking for in the marketplace. A free event, all welcome. Monday 23rd June, 7.00pm, Turnbull House, Bowen St, Wellington See www.the-wcba.blogspot.com for more details on this and a dinner/speaker event for late June
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