Edited by Siobhan Harvey
JAAM Publishing Collective, $16 | Reviewed by Amy Brown

LITERARY journals often have a title or tagline, such as “new New Zealand writing”, “the garden party” or “open house”, which suggests a cohering theme for the collection. JAAM 25 doesn’t use this device. In the introduction, Siobhan Harvey, the editor, lets quotations from Novalis and Charles Simic help her reach a loose definition of what poetry (and, indeed, fiction) might be. Novalis says, “Poetry heals the wounds inflicted by reason”, and Simic calls it “an orphan of silence”. Much of the work Harvey has chosen for this collection could be seen to fall under these rather poetic definitions.

Edited by Bill Manhire and Peter Whiteford
VUP, NZ$40 | Reviewed by Sarah Jane Barnett

A FESTSCHRIFT is a traditional way for academics to honour a respected colleague through the publication of a book of original essays, presented to the honouree on a notable occasion. Each essay intends to reflect on the significance of the honouree’s contribution to their field of work. A Festschrift may sound in danger of being a little dry – unless of course it is for Vincent O’Sullivan.

TOM FITZSIMONS scans the stellar programme of this year’s Auckland Writers & Readers Festival.

THIS IS my first Auckland Writers & Readers Festival and the organisers have kindly landed a huge haul for the occasion. Some truly big overseas names here – and a good scattering of locals too. Five who I’ll definitely be seeing:

NZ Arts Festival, Writers & Readers Week
March 15 | Reviewed by Sarah Jane Barnett

BRING to mind Basil Fawlty goose-stepping through his hotel’s dining room as his German guests eat dinner, after issuing his staff with the order, “Don’t mention the war!” he cannot restrain his own verbal and physical blunders.

By Eion Stevens; introduction by David Eggleton
Longacre Press, NZ$35 | Reviewed by Sarah Jane Barnett

EION STEVENS’ paintings are like visual summaries of an emotion or an event, where the guts of the matter is left for the viewer to create. His tragic and comedic figures depict a staged inner-life, his visual choices symbolise anti-heroes, and parody famous people or himself. The viewer is given a tantalising snapshot that is as likely to be ironic as it is tender. Enough about his work though, let’s talk about this book that combines poetry with painting – published to coincide with an exhibition at Dunedin Art Gallery – and why you might like it.

By Charlotte Simmonds
VUP, NZ$25 | Reviewed by Sarah Jane Barnett

THE OPENING page of The World’s Fastest Flower tells me the Canadian Bunchberry Dogwood opens in 0.4 milliseconds and, because of its speed, has only been discovered since technology managed to catch up with nature. It would be easy to read Simmond's book with the same haste. The ninety pages are filled with lyric poems that build racing and addictive narratives. There are no sections to this book, no breaks or breathers for the reader and I wonder, if I ever have dinner with the author, if the evening would be spent in silent but rapt attention.

By Annie Villiers and John Z Robinson
Longacre Press, NZ$30 | Reviewed by Sarah Jane Barnett

THE OTAGO Rail Trail is the first New Zealand rail trail to be dedicated to cyclists and walkers. Its 150km length cuts through some of the most memorable scenery in New Zealand, a landscape that is already well represented in art and literature.

By Sue Orr
Random House, NZ$29.95 | Reviewed by Sarah Jane Barnett

The bookkeeper’s wife wanted to host a dinner party. It would not be too large an affair – six guests at the most, she suggested – a small gathering to break the monotony of long winter evenings.

Sue Orr’s debut book of short stories will certainly break the monotony of a long winter evening. For the last couple of years I have had a sneaking feeling that short stories will become the ‘next big thing’ in New Zealand literature. I don’t know if this thought was prompted by the conception of the Six Pack or just because recently I have had the serendipity of reading some great books of short stories. But I think their bite-sized morsels of fiction fit neatly into the ‘empty time’ public transport creates in our lives. Etiquette for a Dinner Party stands out on the shelf. Its delicious cover hints at the contents inside: black and glossy with three formally-dressed gentlemen at a dinner table, plus snake. The book itself feels soft and pliable in the hand. With Orr’s history as a journalist, editor, speechwriter and Manhire graduate, I was interested to see what gems of social graces and etiquette she had woven into her characters and plots.

By C.K. Stead
AUP, $59.99 | Reviewed by Sarah Jane Barnett

‘I HAVE tried, on the whole, to represent my own history as it occurred, and not make it look better, or myself wiser, more mature, more adroit, than I was at the time.’

C.K.(Christian Karlson) Stead was born in Auckland in 1932 and is considered by many to be New Zealand’s greatest living poet. A student of Allen Curnow and Frank Sargeson, he has published fourteen collections of poetry, eleven novels, seven books of literary criticism, two collections of short stories and edited a number of other collections. He has won many literary prizes, honours and fellowships, including the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers’ Fellowship in 2005, during which he created this collection. Collected Poems 1951-2006 brings together his published poetry as well as 22 previously uncollected poems. A thick hard-backed volume, it comes in at just over 500 pages including a foreword and extensive notes and annotations written by Stead.

Media Release
For three months from mid-July each year, the International Institute of Modern Letters, home of Victoria University’s renowned creative writing programme, runs a series of events highlighting writers active in and around Wellington as well as guests from further afield. In 2006 the popular series returns to City Gallery Wellington to brighten up the start of the week.

Paula Green’s book Making Lists for Frances Hodgkins is described as a poetic memoir ‘in the light of art’. JOAN FLEMING and SARAH JANE BARNETT caught up with Green during Writers and Readers Week at the New Zealand International Arts Festival to ask about the process of writing, her love of Italy and the dialogue she has created between poetry and art.