"The play's the thing..." to half quote Shakespeare and it would be remiss of me not to include drama in a month-long look at literature from New Zealand. The difficulty is that while novels, short stories and poetry are able to be enjoyed for a long time after they have been published - a play … Continue reading New Zealand Playwrights
And the OSCAR goes to…
Taika Waititi, a New Zealand filmmaker for "Adapted screenplay". You have to love someone who, during his Oscar acceptance speech, thanks his mother for giving him the book, "Caging Skies" by Christine Leunens which led to him writing the screenplay for the movie " Jojo Rabbit". Described as a Belgian - New Zealand writer, Christine … Continue reading And the OSCAR goes to…
NZ on the world stage -Booker award 1985
Keri Hulme's book The Bone People won the Booker Prize in 1985. I loved this book for so many reasons. It combined poetry and prose which invited the reader to enter the story with their hearts and their minds. The three characters the story revolved around were broken and authentic. Not everyone was a fan … Continue reading NZ on the world stage -Booker award 1985
NZ on the world stage – Man Booker award 2013
The 2013 Man Booker Award winner was New Zealander Eleanor Catton's novel the Luminaries. She was born (in Canada) in the year that the only other New Zealander to win that accolade, Keri Hulme did so, 1985. Catton is the youngest ever to win the award. The Luminaries is a historical fiction set during the … Continue reading NZ on the world stage – Man Booker award 2013
Into the world of light
Having shared some history books with you yesterday I hope you will indulge me as I share a book that was significant for me as a reader and I believe for New Zealanders at the time it was published. Into the World of Light was an anthology of Maori Writing edited by Witi Ihimaera and … Continue reading Into the world of light
Happy Waitangi Day
Today is Waitangi Day. It is the day New Zealanders commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. The photo above is from the website created by the Waitangi National Trust Board, their mission is to "illustrate the ongoing promise of Waitangi to the world". One of the ways they do this is … Continue reading Happy Waitangi Day
Down the back of the chair – World read aloud day
Today is World Read Aloud day brought to us by Scholastic Publishing. I have a few suggestions for great read alouds. I seem to recall that Margaret Mahy's book "Down the Back of the Chair" was selected by some libraries and school to read aloud on this day quite a few years ago. Illustrated by … Continue reading Down the back of the chair – World read aloud day
Going to the source
Many of the links included in previous posts came from Read NZ Te Pou Muramura - an organisation that was formerly known as the New Zealand Book Council. The new name relates to the Maori creation explanation and involves moving from darkness into light, a beautiful metaphor for enlightenment literacy brings. Read NZ's mission is … Continue reading Going to the source
Dear Miss Mansfield
Following on from the Witi Ihimaera post, in 1989, he published an anthology of short stories called Dear Miss Mansfield as part of the celebration of the centenary of Katherine Mansfield. I am borrowing his story title for the title of this blog post and I acknowledge that Ihimaera's story was not well received in … Continue reading Dear Miss Mansfield
Fans should always say hello – Witi Ihimaera
As you know New Zealand is a small country both in size and in population. There are many benefits to this - you live relatively close to the sea or the mountains, it doesn't take long to establish common ground with people you meet and it is surprisingly possible to meet famous people. I remember … Continue reading Fans should always say hello – Witi Ihimaera
