Oh dear. It's a first I wasn't looking forward to: The Summer King making it's debut appearance in a secondhand bookshop. Jason Books in Auckland have one of the review copies listed for sale. It would have been nice if whoever it was (I wonder who?) had reviewed the book before selling it! (Maybe they …
Free Workshop – Helen Lowe: Writing Fantastic Fiction
News just in of a very interesting sounding workshop for all of us who yearn to write that fantasy or science fiction novel: Award-winning author, Helen Lowe, runs a workshop on “Writing Fantastic Fiction”, focusing on Fantasy and Sci-Fi. The session includes discussions and exercises on the essential elements of 'fantastic world building', structure and …
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What do your bookcases say about you?
The BBC magazine website has a rumination on the subject of bookcases, why we might use them, and what inferences can be drawn from them. The writer poses a (mildly) provocative question: But why are we so keen to show off our books – necessitating all these shelves and swelling the already bursting coffers of …
Five New Zealand Poets
A bit of utterly shameless self-promotion: on Friday I'm taking part in a poetry reading for the 2009 Christchurch Writer's Festival. Also reading will be Frankie McMillan, Tusiata Avia, and my two favourite Bearded Southern Men, James Norcliffe and Brian Turner. It should be a really good event – not only because the others are …
snatching moments in the whirlwind
This week I've been proofreading the 2009 NZPS Anthology – moments in the whirlwind. It's being edited by Barbara Strang this time, and she's done a lovely job. Because Christchurch poets have featured so heavily in the competitions for the last couple of years, the official launch of the anthology will be in here in Christchurch …
A Dark Feathered Art 