New Zealand/Aotearoa Recent Picks

July 2004

Click on the underlined title links to check the item's availability in our catalogue.

	Seven New Zealand novellas edited by Peter Simpson. (2004) "Novellas - that midway point between short stories and novels - have a fine tradition in New Zealand writing, and several of our most important writers have done their best work in this genre.... The seven novellas span a period of over 80 years, from the expatriate modernism of Mansfield at the start of the twentieth century to the internationalised writing styles of the 1990s: Katherine Mansfield, Prelude; Frank Sargeson, That Summer; Maurice Duggan, O'Leary's Orchard; Patricia Grace, Valley; Albert Wendt, Flying-fox in a Freedom Tree; Peter Wells, Memory and Desire; Elizabeth Knox, Pomare." (Reed)
	Hummingbird by James George. (2003) "Hummingbird sets global conflict against a sensuous search for love. The action sweeps across fifty years, and ranges around the globe from New Zealand to northern Europe and the Mediterranean. This novel is a bittersweet exploration of freedom and confinement, parenthood and family, home and belonging. James George is of Nga Puhi, Irish and English descent. 'Zeta Orionis', an extract from Hummingbird, won the premiere award in the 2001 Maori Literature Awards judged by Keri Hulme." (Huia)
	Matariki : the Maori New Year by Libby Hakaraia. (2004) "The rising of the star group Matariki into the New Zealand sky signifies the beginning of the Maori New Year - a festival which is undergoing a renaissance. Known in other cultures by names including the Pleiades and the Seven Sisters, Matariki featured strongly in pre-European New Zealand. It marked the beginning of the Maori calendar, and it’s rising before the sun in late May or early June was greeted with great festivities. It was used as a guide to planting and harvesting, and was studied by tohunga as an omen which told whether the food-gathering season would be plentiful or lean. Today more and more people are celebrating the rising of Matariki. For those who wish to join this growing movement, Libby provides suggestions on how to celebrate the Maori New Year - and, most importantly, a guide to finding Matariki in the night sky." (Reed)

An Asian at my table by Raybon Kan. (2004)
"Comedian Raybon Kan has been writing since before he could spell. In this hilarious greatest hits album, Raybon crawls hands and knees across the front lines of his worst fears. Tremble as he competes in an American game show. Swoon as he admires the world's most comfortable bra. Burrow as he explains the war in Iraq." (Cover)
"If you don't start reading this collection of humorous writing with at least a grin on your face, you must be some sad-assed man or woman sitting in the Lonely Laundrette of Life watching your undies go round." (Witi Ihimaera)

Dave Gunson's New Zealand wildlife by Dave Gunson. (2004)
"This stunning book is wildlife painter Dave Gunsonls personal tribute to New Zealand's incredibly diverse and remarkable natural world. Covering all the major environments, the book is arranged by habitat - The Coast, Estuaries, Wetlands, Open Country, the Forests, High Country, Urban - shows New Zealand's rich collection of fauna in their characteristic surroundings." (Book cover)

The landscape of my heart : the Bethells and their neighbours by Mary D. Woodward. (2004)
"In recent times... my area of interest (has been) the coastal strip between Te Waha Point (at the northern end of Piha) and Raetahinga Point (at the northern end of O'Neill Bay) and the families that have settled there. But before that story I must tell the one that preceded it. I thought writing would be easy. I know better now, but it has been a very satisfying project." (Mary Woodward)
A beautifully illustrated book by the editor of "The scent of rosewater".

Easily the best : the life of Helen Connon, 1857-1903 by Margaret Lovell-Smith. (2004)
"When Helen Connon received her Master of Arts degree from the University of New Zealand in 1881, she became the first woman in the British Empire to get an honours degree. She later became the second Lady Principal of Christchurch Girls High School. This study of Helen Connon's life sheds new light on her early life, her professional career and her marriage. Above all, it explains how an obscure carpenter's daughter came to be at the cutting edge of educational achievements for women in the nineteenth century." (Book jacket)

The Penguin history of New Zealand by Michael King. (2003)
"New Zealand was the last country in the world to be discovered and settled by humankind. It was also the first to introduce a full democracy. This title tells that story in all its colour and drama. The narrative that emerges is an inclusive one about men and women, Maori and Pakeha. It shows that British motives in colonizing New Zealand were essentially humane; and that Maori, far from being passive victims of a "fatal impact", coped heroically with colonization and survived by selectively accepting and adapting what Western technology and culture had to offer. The latter part of the book reveals how an insulated and dependent British colony transformed itself into an independent nation, open to and competing with technological and cultural influences sweeping the globe." (Amazon)

Voters' veto : the 2002 election in New Zealand and the consolidation of minority government edited by Jack Vowles. (2004)

As it happened : life and times in New Zealand, 2000-2003 by Nick Lindo. (2003)

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