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Novel recalls clash of 40 years ago

30/6/2021

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Hold the Line
by Kerry Harrison


This novel, in 216 pages and 93,400 words, of the 1981 Springbok rugby team’s tour of New Zealand is a faithful representation of a time in our history when division conquered unity, when motives were more chaotic than considered, when coercion was the first weapon of both sides and when compassion wilted in the face of hard-line cynicism. 
    The major characters are rugby-playing policeman Viktor and law student Beth. Both are recently returned from OE; Viktor in Sydney and Beth in the UK. Both juggle law studies with jobs, both are alienated from their families to some extent and both reflect on the NZ they see on their return from experiencing other cultures. 
    Beyond that, though, they differ in that Viktor is a ‘hold the line’ team man who sees things very much in black and white — lawbreakers are lawbreakers regardless of their motives, while Beth, daughter of a ‘typical housewife’ and an ex-serviceman suffering PTSD, is presented initially as an ‘undecided’ who comes to adopt anti-tour views through her experiences of police responses to protestor attempts to stop games. 
    While each is reasonably well-drawn, inconsistencies persist. Even though lauded as ‘a gifted player’, Viktor can apparently not catch a ball without falling over because he looks for his girlfriend in preference to concentrating on the game; while Beth, a person to whom it ‘doesn’t come easy to be part of any group’ had no hesitation in becoming a badged member of the CND movement while temporarily resident in another culture. Beyond a hint of attempted suicide, we do not discover why she ended her relationship with the Englishman Sam, who was apparently the love of her life. 
    It is tempting to see other characters — Beth’s friend Chrissy and her brother Rob, Viktor’s friends Salesi and Stu, his dead brother Luka — as having been added to complement the main characters, because their involvement merely dilutes what might have been a powerful story of loyalties divided on levels national (police vs protestors), regional (rural vs urban) and personal (Viktor’s involvement with two women).
    Harrison is, however, at her very best in description of landscapes and natural scenes, and some of her depictions of Auckland, both by day and by night, are breathtakingly indicative of her ability to observe with the eye of an artist. This is also the case in her comparisons of workaday life in London with Auckland, and the ring of familiarity is resoundingly present.
    One or two points do grate, however: rugby matches do not commence at 4pm in the New Zealand winter; there were no New Zealand soldiers at Dunkirk, and how the rhododendron Baz planted became a camellia as he walked away from it must constitute a horticultural miracle. 
    Of more importance in revealing attitude, however, is the assertion that “ . . .the tour turned a spotlight on . . . the divisive politics of (R.D.) Muldoon. He was voted out by a large majority in the next election.” In fact, R.D. Muldoon won the 1981 election and National governed until 1984, when quite other factors contributed to its self-immolation.
    However, and above the sound of the axes that continue to be ground even today over the primacy of the rule of law over direct action, much of what Harrison says both through her characters and directly is correct, viz “Viktor (was) sure....the movement has long gone beyond the democratic right to protest” and this was exemplified in the takeover of Patu Squad by anti-social elements. Again, her description of Viktor’s reaction to the ambivalence of the violence dished out by both protestors and police on page 205 goes a long way to summing up the futility of the whole sorry mess that was the 1981 Springbok tour.

Review by MJ Burr
Title: Hold the Line
Author: Kerry Harrison
Publisher:  Cloud Ink Pres 
ISBN: 9780473559465
RRP: $29.99
Available: paper: bookshops
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Feast of poetry a treat

23/6/2021

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Burst Kisses On The Actual Wind 
by Courtney Sina Meredith

 
There is a cliché that ‘we cannot judge a book by its cover’ and this overly well-worn phrase applies to this small, thin book. The all-black lettering on the all-blue outside further belies the content – and subsequent reader contentment – once the hardbacked covers are opened. 
     Meredith’s second collection of poetry is in fact an overflowing banquet, a tasty and sometimes tart smorgasbord of 54 delights crammed into a 68-page tableau. There is all manner of poem here, from ‘standard’ stanza spreads, through found poetry, to experimental and shaped versifications. The poet loves to phrase words in new fashion, so that sometimes we re-read what is written as to best glean the gist of a poem, although there are also pieces which are more straightforwardly digestible. Syncopated phrases, isolated words, missing articles, rhythmic repetition blend themselves into a novel recipe for writing, a va’a voyage to vā. The diverse and innovative visual array/display of the words on the pages – a feast for the eyes – is also a feature.
     Meredith tends to pen her poems in a stream-of-consciousness, a form of diaristic catharsis, whereby she reflects deeply on her love life, her personal and sexual relationships, her whānau, the Auckland suburbs she lives in, her overseas travel, her debilitating illness, her heritage of being Samoa/Mangaia/Ireland/LGBTQ and the concomitant attitudes of others in the local community towards her. The symmetrically presented poem How about being a woman? is a cogent articulation of the latter; indeed, the entire collection is manifestly about and for Women. After all, 
                        A woman controls her
            own body
            these days.
                        (from Mile End)
There is little lumpy/angry political ingredient here; Meredith is more subtle with her barbs penetrating both racial/cultural discriminations and sexist individuals – sometimes at the same time. Hers is a more inward-then-outward stance, a delving into and drawing out of both conscious memories and comingled subconsciousness.
     There are some great lines here too.  Take these from Household Gods.
            Household Gods have gotten hold of the remote
            We are forced to watch Survivor
            With the volume as high as the ear will go.
And these from STOP SENDING POEMS.
            My heart was in its cage eating lettuce
            I had been fattening her up during a fairytale winter…
            I started taking her to work in my handbag
            Letting her nibble on memories under my desk.
     As a final course, for me, the poetic apogee is the uncluttered and moving Grandpa Green Bananas, which I serve in full here.
            It’s Grandpa’s birthday today
               We Skype while he shows me his breakfast
               The boiled ribcage of a small chicken
               Animated on paper towels
            ​   His fingers work the nooks
               Tearing flesh from cartilage
               While his eyes fill with tears
               While his eyes fill with tears
Simply stated and presented, yet so full of pathos. A treat indeed – one of many in this scopious repast.
     Fa’afetai Courtney Sina Meredith.

Review by Vaughan Rapatahana
Title: Burst Kisses On The Actual Wind
Author: Courtney Sina Meredith
Publisher:  Beatnik Publishing
ISBN: 9780995118096
RRP: $30.00
Available: paper: bookshops
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Art inspired by nature

16/6/2021

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Creative Conservation
compiled by 
Chrissy Wickes & Sonia Frimmel


Sometimes great stories are told through the spoken or written word and sometimes it is through imagery that we can convey the most important messages. Lou Sanson, Director General of the Department of Conservation writes in the foreword of the book. 
    Creative Conservation: a celebration of New Zealand artists who are wild about nature showcases the paintings, sculptures, carvings, ceramics and weavings of 35 artists from around New Zealand. 
    New Zealand has a distinctive landscape and flora and fauna and there are many artists who celebrate this through their work. Their art looks at what inspires them, and how their awareness of the importance of conservation motivates their work.
       This book is a celebration of their artistic talents as well as what makes New Zealand unique.
    Many of the artists featured have close ties with the Department of Conservation so have enjoyed favoured access to and interaction with the landscape. 
    For me personally, the standouts from the book are Ginney Deavoll and Ruth Cole with their acrylic on canvas, Hannah Edmonds with her watercolour and ink, Jo Ogier with her mixed media art.
    Creative Conservation is a unique book, the only New Zealand conservation-based creative collection of its kind. It should be in every school library. Both art and classroom teachers would find it a wonderful resource to inspire students to join in the conservation effort and create their own artworks. 
    Creatives in all disciplines will be inspired and informed with this book compiled by Chrissy Wickes and Sonia Frimmel.
    Chrissy Wickes has worked in conservation for more than 30 years and her work has seen her travel extensively around New Zealand, including many outlying, isolated parts of the country. She is also an artist and her oil paintings capture the magnificence of the New Zealand landscape. She has worked with other artists who are also interested in conservation in curating group exhibitions and shares their passion for furthering conservation efforts through their artwork.
    Sonia Frimmel is a Waikato-based artist and author of guidebooks to her region’s walking and cycle tracks. She also produces creative display panels with conservation themes – incorporating art to tell these stories that are important to her. She is inspired by her 30 years working alongside people committed to conservation and the time she has spent tramping in some of New Zealand’s most beautiful places.
   I think together Chrissy Wickes and Sonia Frimmel have created an inspirational book that will appeal to all who are art lovers and or conservationists.

Review by Renee Hollis
Title: Creative Conservation
Compilers: Chrissy Wickes & Sonia Frimmel
Publisher:  New Holland
ISBN: 9781869665432
RRP: $45.00
Available: bookshops
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Read and sing along

9/6/2021

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There’s A Bear in the Window

June Pitman-Hayes &
Minky Stapleton


Celebrating our great teddy bear hunt of the 2020 lockdown. In English and Maori.
    Well, of course the cover art tells the story, doesn’t it!
    I immediately knew what this book would be about, and as it’s still uppermost in some youngsters’ minds, it seems so appropriate for young readers.
    The cover art is eye catching and well up with Minky Stapleton’s other quality works, while June Pitman-Hayes’ grasp of current topics for children is paramount throughout this lovely book!
    I cannot wait to read it to my grandson, who adores books.
    Because there are questions asked in this story, it’s a great tool for prompting a child to express their point of view, if they were that bear in the window. While some might see rainbows, another might see people in the street eating cake. And the farm bear wears gumboots – delightful.
    Don’t forget to download or stream the songs in English and Maori so kiddies can sing along.

Review by Susan Tarr
Title: There’s A Bear in the Window
Author: June Pitman-Hayes & Minky Stapleton
Publisher:  Scholastic
ISBN: 978-1-77543-715-4 
RRP: $19.99
Available: bookshops
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Novel recalls the 1960s

1/6/2021

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Beyond the Rimu Grove
by Patricia Fenton


The year is 1966 and Ellie has finished her teacher training and has been assigned to do her probationary training at a small remote village in the North Island. The story begins with Ellie travelling to an area that is, to her, at the end of the world, but she finds herself being enveloped into a warm welcoming country family that accepts the new teacher and gives her all the support she needs.
    The storyline develops with Ellie preparing herself for her year of teaching, the families she will begin to know, and their places in the social life that was typical of New Zealand in those days.
    Ellie, as a young women in the '60s, with the advent of changing social patterns, ‘the pill’ and her new found freedom, blossoms into a young self-assured woman.  
    She finds herself dealing with her students and fellow teachers, and a tragedy that occurs – all this strengthening her as she grows and matures over the year she is there. There are times when the dynamics of her students and parents become quite complicated and because of this it is better to read it over a few days, not weeks, to feel the thread of the story as it unravels.
    I loved the story as it captured the 1960s as I remember them – rail transport, the dances, the social events and romances that occurred. There were the changing times and belief structure that didn’t quite fit in with our parents’ generation but, like Ellie, we embraced the changes as we too made our way in the world.
    Beyond the Rimu Grove is a very well written readable book and eventually my copy will be passed on to a lifelong friend who was also a teacher, in a very small South Island country area in the '60s. Like me, I am sure she will be enthralled with it as the story closely resembles her own. 

Review by Merilyn Mary
Title: Beyond the Rimu Grove
Author: Patricia Fenton
Publisher:  Lit-Links
ISBN: 978-0-473-46896-5
RRP: Print $24.00; E-book US$2.99
Available: Print: Paper Plus, Whangarei, Independent Bookshops on Request, info@lit-links.nz
e-book: Smashwords, Kobo, Barnes and Noble
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