Tag: NZ books

Interview: Andrea Hotere on her book The Vanishing Point

Neil

The Vanishing Point by Andrea Hotere is a brilliant, multi-layered historical art mystery thriller set in London in 1991 and Madrid in 1656. The novel boasts two main  protagonists, Alex Johns and the Infanta Margarita, with each character connected by mysteries surrounding one of the most famous paintings of all time, Las Meninas or ‘The Ladies-in-Waiting’ by Diego Velázquez.

Las Meninas is one of the most written about paintings of all time. It hangs in the Museo del Prado in Madrid and is one of the most enigmatic, mysterious and most talked about works of art of all time. It is superbly painted with almost photographic detail, featuring numerous objects and a large cast of figures in its composition — a true masterpiece. Many of these elements and details raise questions in themselves, however it is the questions it raises about reality, illusion, and the relationship between the figures in the composition and outside viewers that has fascinated admirers and writers on art for centuries.

In The Vanishing Point, Andrea Hotere takes some of the fascinating factual details and mysteries surrounding the painting and runs with them, creating a brilliant literary puzzle.

Andrea Hotere grew up in Ōtepoti, Dunedin, and lives in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, with her family. She studied history at the University of Otago, journalism at the University of Canterbury and has worked as a historical researcher, journalist, TV producer and author.

We were thrilled when Andrea took time out from her very busy schedule to discuss The Vanishing Point, and we wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to her. For more information visit Ultimo Press.

This interview was done in conjunction with Caffeine and Aspirin, the arts and entertainment review show on Radioactive FM. You can hear the interview, as well borrow The Vanishing Point by following the links below.

The vanishing point / Hotere, Andrea
“Set against the backdrop of London in 1991 and Madrid in 1656 the novel follows the lives of two women, Alex Johns and the Infanta Margarita, who are connected by a quest to unravel the enigmatic secrets within an iconic painting.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

Tīhema Baker in Conversation

Neil

One of the most acclaimed and talked about novels of this year is Turncoat by Tīhema Baker. Turncoat is a book that takes a close look at some of the effects of colonisation, using the lens of satire and science fiction. The book deals with some really big issues but does so in a thoughtful and thoroughly entertaining and funny way .

Turncoat explores what it feels like to be colonised in a distant future, when aliens called the Noor have colonised Earth and the entire human race is struggling to have their voices heard and rights upheld. Much of human culture and society has been replaced by Noor culture, society and language.

The novel’s central protagonist, Daniel, is a young man working inside the bureaucracy of the alien colonisers who wants to ensure the Covenant of Wellington, the document signed in the “birthplace of modern Earth”, is honoured, but he finds the task challenging.

Tīhema uses his own experience as a Māori public servant to inform much of the storyline.

Turncoat holds a satirical mirror up to Pākehā New Zealanders and asks the question : “What if it happened to you?”

The novel is a wonderful concoction of moving, funny, tragic and disturbing and very prescient in a political and social fashion.

Tīhema Baker (Raukawa te Au ki te Tonga, Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai, and Ngāti Toa Rangatira) is a writer and Tiriti o Waitangi-based policy advisor from Ōtaki. He has a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington, for which he wrote this novel.

We were thrilled when Tīhema took time out from his very busy schedule to discuss Turncoat and we wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to him. For more information visit  Lawrence & Gibson.

This interview was done in conjunction with Caffeine and Aspirin, the arts and entertainment review show on Radioactive FM. You can hear the interview and borrow Turncoat by following the links below.

Turncoat / Baker, Tīhema
“Daniel is a young, idealistic Human determined to make a difference for his people. He lives in a distant future in which Earth has been colonised by aliens. His mission: infiltrate the Alien government called the Hierarch and push for it to honour the infamous Covenant of Wellington, the founding agreement between the Hierarch and Humans. With compassion and insight, Turncoat explores the trauma of Māori public servants and the deeply conflicted role they are expected to fill within the machinery of government. From casual racism to co-governance, Treaty settlements to tino rangatiratanga, Turncoat is a timely critique of the Aotearoa zeitgeist, holding a mirror up to Pakeha New Zealanders and asking: “What if it happened to you?” ( Adapted from Catalogue) We also have a Book Club kete of this title if your book club fancies reading this.

 

Signs of life: New fiction

Neil

This month’s selection of newly acquired novels provides a rich and diverse collection of wonderful fictional works. It’s an exciting list of books, covering an incredibly wide field of works with subjects, styles, genres, authors and books hailing from across the globe.

First up, we have four fabulous new novels from our own fair shores: Signs of life by Amy Head, a delicious collection of twelve linked stories; The bone tree by Airana Ngarewa, a powerful coming of age story set in Aotearoa; The Waters by Carl Nixon, an epic work covering the fortunes of one Aotearoa family over forty years; and Resonance surge by Nalini Singh, a paranormal romance from our very own New York Times bestselling author. 

Other highlight’s this month include Kate Mosse’s latest compelling new novel in which huguenots, pirates and ghost ships play a major part that novel is called The Ghost ship. We also have a new work from the multi award-winning Scottish author Alan Warner set in the aftermath of the battle of Culloden called Nothing left to fear from hell. Plus works from international writers Abraham Verghese and Eva Baltasar.

Signs of life / Head, Amy
“Christchurch, post quakes, and the earth is still settling. Containers line the damaged streets, whose inhabitants waver – like their city – suspended between disaster and recovery. Tony, very much alive, is declared dead, Gerald misreads one too many situations in his community patrol, and boomer Carla tries online dating. At the epicentre of these taut, magnetic stories is twenty-something Flick who, just as she is finding her feet again, faces another violent disruption – this time in human form – while her mostly-ex gets set to marry.” (Adapted from catalogue)

The bone tree / Ngarewa, Airana
“After the death of both parents, Kauri and Black must find a way to survive in a world that doesn’t care much about them. Kauri embarks on a journey into his father’s past, to come to terms with the trauma he’s experienced in his short life, and to break the cycle of violence he fears perpetuating as he raises his younger brother. The Bone Tree is a gritty coming of age novel, where the unforgettable young protagonist faces immense challenges, and the stakes are life or death – yet it also has a lyrical beauty, and a powerful message of love at its heart. It gives voice to characters who are on the margins of society, raised in poverty, and who have a deep mistrust in the systems that are meant to protect them – and it considers the question of how we can best protect the ones we love.” (Adapted from catalogue)

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Together We Read: Remember Me by Charity Norman

Neil

We are very excited and thrilled to announce a very special treat for book lovers. As part of the national #TogetherWeRead promotion, during the period 27th September to the 11th of October, Wellington City Libraries will be offering unlimited download eBook and eAudiobooks copies of Charity Norman’s compulsive read Remember Me.

No waitlists. No holds. And totally free! We want to make this the biggest read in Aotearoa’s history and get as many people as possible to read this novel.

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Novelist Latika Vasil picks her top five dystopian reads

Neil

The World I Found is the debut novel by Wellingtonian based Indian New Zealander Latika Vasil.

This emotional and exciting young adult read is an apocalyptical ‘what if’ novel, in which 15-year-old Quinn returns from a visit to the remote Campbell Island only to discover everything has changed, everyone has vanished, phones don’t work and there is no power. How do they go about navigating and surviving in this new world?

Latika Vasil lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. She has worked as a university lecturer, a researcher, a creative writing tutor and currently as a freelance writer. Her fiction has been broadcast on Radio New Zealand, and published in many anthologies and magazines. The World I Found is her first novel.

Dystopian novels have a long and noble history and the opportunity to ask someone who is adding to this illustrious canon was just too good to miss. So, to celebrate the release of The World I Found we asked Latika to select her top five dystopian novels.

We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to Latika Vasil for taking the time to write this list!

Station eleven / Mandel, Emily St. John
Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
Despite the bleakness of a world destroyed by a deadly virus, Station Eleven offers the reader moments of incredible beauty amongst the gloom. I loved the writing and the meticulous worldbuilding. The book follows the stories of various characters across different timelines, but the storyline that stuck with me the most was the one that followed The Traveling Symphony, a rag-tag group of musicians and actors, as they roamed through a post-apocalyptic world performing for survivor communities. In the face of an almost total collapse and the loss of technology, Station Eleven shows that art will endure.

The road / McCarthy, Cormac
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
The Road follows the journey of a father and his young son as they walk across America after an unspecified apocalyptic event. McCarthy’s writing style is spare which perfectly mirrors the unrelentingly bleak landscape through which the pair are travelling. Some readers may find the book too dark and pessimistic but I loved its intensity. It will break your heart many times over but it is a masterpiece of dystopian fiction and the deep love between father and son is truly beautiful to read. We never find out what caused the devastation but it is timely to consider climate change as a contender for leading to this type of future.

Continue reading “Novelist Latika Vasil picks her top five dystopian reads” →

Wellington Writers Walk 21st Anniversary: Alistair Te Ariki Campbell

Neil

To celebrate the 21st anniversary of the fabulous Wellington Writers Walk, we’ve taken a closer look at just a few of the authors represented. In this blog we take a look at Alistair Te Ariki Campbell’s typographical sculpture, which features a quote taken  from ‘Blue Rain’ in The Dark Lord of Savaiki: Collected Poems, Hazard Press, 2003.

Blue rain from a clear sky.

Our world a cube of sunlight –

but to the south

the violet admonition

of thunder.

In the video below, local authors and Wellington Writers Walk Committee members Philippa Werry and Maggie Rainey-Smith explore Alistair Te Ariki Campbell’s work – to be found by going down steps between the Circa Theatre and the harbour to a walkway over the water, or viewed from above. They provide a fascinating insight into Alistair Te Ariki Campbell’s work life and creative process, and also  celebrate his achievements, body of work and connections to Wellington.

 

The collected poems of Alistair Te Ariki Campbell / Campbell, Alistair
“The definitive edition of one of the most important bodies of work in New Zealand poetry. Based on a spiral-bound manuscript entitled Complete Poems 1947-2007 found among Campbell’s papers after his death, this is his most substantial collection to date and the first to be published in hardback since 1981.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

The dark lord of Savaiki : collected poems / Campbell, Alistair
“In The Dark Lord of Savaiki Alistair Te Ariki Campbell presents the best of his early and middle period poems, as well as his latest collections, Gallipoli and other Poems, Maori Battalion, acclaimed as a New Zealand epic poem, and an autobiographical poem in letters, Poets in Our Youth. Few New Zealand poets have treated the natural world with greater sensitivity, while his personal lyrics and love poems have a music and a depth of feeling that set them apart. Campbell is in the enviable position of being both a New Zealand and a Cook Islands poet, enabling him to draw on imagery, folklore, history, and mythology from both sources, with powerful effect. The publication of this book is a time for celebration, as a poet in his eightieth year publishes perhaps his best collection” (Adapted from Catalogue)

It’s love, isn’t it? : the love poems / Campbell, Alistair
“Poet Meg Campbell, not long before she died, expressed the wish to be published with her husband, Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, in a joint collection of their poems. Sadly, she died before this could be accomplished. Campbell has now carried out her wish with this striking and unusual collection of love poems mainly from the exacting early and middle years of their marriage. Tested by mental illness, infidelity, doubt, and independence, their love remained strong to the end. Campbell has matched the love poems, his and hers, which appear on facing pages throughout the book. The result is never less than cogent and illuminating. If you like poems that are frank, direct and passionate, this is the book for you.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

Scribbling in the dark : Alistair Te Ariki Campbell / Wattie, Nelson
“From the early days of Mine Eyes Dazzle Campbell’s poetic voice has had a charismatic force which has won him an unusually broad range of admirers. Young readers continue to be drawn by his strength of personal feeling, his compelling eroticism and his vivid renderings of the New Zealand and South Pacific environment.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

Just poetry / Campbell, Alistair

 

 

 

 

Fantasy with witches / Campbell, Alistair