Exactly one month out from the launch of The Summer King, and I can finally show the cover to you all. The first couple of versions of the cover weren't quite right – the earliest version was a white background with a more angular tree, and just didn't do it for me. And we were …
site update – Commentaries posted
If you look right below the header image, you'll see that a new page has appeared – Commentaries! Yes, I've finally managed to get around to formatting some of my close readings and putting them up. I hope to be able to post quite a lot more of these. I really enjoy getting in to …
The Summer King – waving the proofs goodbye
Well the final proof-reading, tweaking and primping of The Summer King is now done, and as of yesterday afternoon, all files are with the printer. And yes, even this late in the process I was still finding things to tweak and things that I'd missed the previous (kazillion?) times. And then my editor found a …
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2009 Montana New Zealand Book Awards – the shortlist
Well the finalists have been announced. A few surprises, and some of them even challenge my natural cynicism. The full list can be found in a number of places online, but I've used Beatie's Book blog today. This year's panel consists of Professor Mark Williams, Jane Westaway and Margo White, with Bernadette Hall as the poetry category …
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Save an endangered species – the Poetry Publisher
Another week: another poetry publisher waves for the third time at the crowd of spectators on the shore, and sinks back through the placid waters into the primordial ooze, with barely a ripple to mark the place where it was last seen. Excuse me sir – did you see what happened? No, not really. …
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A Dark Feathered Art 