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Hauntingly heartbreaking

27/9/2024

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Iconoclasm 
by David Coyle

 
Don’t be deceived by Iconoclasm’s slimness. Yes, it is only 122 pages and yes, you can read it in one sitting and will probably want to, but it is no inconsequential read. Long after I had put it down, Thomas stayed with me, along with the story’s enduring backdrop of snow falling in Wellington. 
    It’s an October evening and uncharacteristically snowing when Thomas “pushes back tears” and leaves his office in Lambton Quay. In a pub in Cuba Street, we learn that he earns little more than the minimum wage – a stout costs “about half an hour’s work, after tax”. So begins a kaleidoscopic night that will take Thomas from Cuba Street’s bright lights and night people to a filthy flat in Newton “in dire need of being torn down”, Oriental Bay and finally home to Island Bay.
    Along the way, we learn that Thomas is kind, a young man who comforts Kate, a tearful older woman in the pub, but we don’t yet know why their conversation unduly saddens him. An unwelcome encounter with Baz, an alcoholic, P-wrecked busker leads Thomas reluctantly back to the Newton flat of his student days – anything it seems is an excuse for not hurrying home tonight. Ten years on, it is still home to his university flatmates, wallowing in their failed lives, dealing drugs or permanently wasted: he is the only one who didn’t drop out after the first year. 
    Why then is Thomas so unhappy? It’s page 105 before we find out, and that’s as it should be. However, knowing why means that a second reading of Iconoclasm sharpens the reader’s awareness. Kate’s comments about ecology and extinction, “We create, we destroy; we make, we unmake” is, on second reading, not just conservationist-speak, but also a stab into the heart of Thomas’s sorrow. And there are more clues, twisting the knife, but they would be spoilers. 
    Having visited his website I wasn’t surprised to learn that Coyle is also a poet. Tightly written and rich in vivid descriptions and insights, Iconoclasm is a haunting story which will certainly repay a second read. 

Review by Carolyn McKenzie
Title: Iconoclasm 
Author: David Coyle
Publisher: Calaveras Press (self-published) 
ISBN: 978-0-473-71545-8
RRP: $30
Available: Wellington independent bookstores (Unity Books, Marsden Books, The Undercurrent, Another Chapter, and Schrödinger’s Books)
​
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Great and timely guide to te reo

20/9/2024

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Ngā Hapa Reo Common Māori Language Errors 
by Hona Black & Te Aorangi Murphy-Fell  

He pukapuka pai rawa atu tēnei. This is a very good book. He aha ai? Why? Because it – across six sections – cogently sets out what the title expresses, namely common language errors made by people who speak and write te reo Māori, from novices, through to experienced veterans.
    It is also a frustrating book, precisely because it is so cogent and well-organised. Why? Because it pointedly, through several examples per error, displays exactly how te reo Māori should be articulated, and it brought home to me, for example, that I continue to make mistakes, especially with ‘Errors in the postponed particle’ (section four), while I am still not good at incorporating correctly some of the appropriate grammar outlined in section two. This concise resource, then, while a treasure is also – for me at least – rather riling because I realise when reading through it, that I do make several of the errors!
    All the more rationale to deleve into Ngā Hapa Reo every day, eh!
    Now, there is also something key that the authors stress, and that is the rather pernicious influence that te reo Ingarihi (English language) has had and continues to have on te reo Māori. Something I have consistently stated for a long time, as I am a strong critic of the ongoing linguistic imperialism brought about by agents of the English language on Indigenous tongues globally and have written extensively about this.  
    Thus, Black and Murphy-Bell in their section three, articulate the following about errors caused by the influence of English on Māori, ‘These errors originate from the English language and its associated Western ways of thinking, where Māori speakers have taken these thoughts and translated them. We could probably say that the thinking is English, the world view is English, the stucture is English, but the language of communication is Māori’ – resulting in an incorrect language structure. A specific example of this tenet?
        Put your shoes on
        Incorrect: Purua ō hū ki runga
        Correct: Kuhuna ō hū
    As the authors state about such an inaccuracy, ‘This error is also one that highlights a Pākehā thought or structure being conveyed in Māori’. Because the verb ‘kuhu’ means ‘to put on’ and there is no need for another or additional ‘on’. Te tika!
    Finally here, there is also a valuable appendix to this litany of common errors, whereby macrons (ngā tohutō) are carefully ascribed – or not – to over 100 words, whereby some words do not have macrons yet are still mistakenly granted them, while more words are utilised incorrectly because they should have these.
    ‘Tangohia tēnei pukapuka (Accept this book).’ It is a great and timely companion to my copy of Complete Manual of Māori Grammar and Conversation, revised and enlarged edition by A.T. Ngata, who also succinctly expresses my own actions now with regard to Black and Murphy-Fell’s pedagogic gem, with ‘Kotahi anō tāku ako i ia rā, i ia rā (I take a lesson every day).’
    He kahurangi. Tēnā kōrua.

Review by Vaughan Rapatahana
Title: Ngā Hapa Reo Common Māori Language Errors 
Author: Hona Black & Te Aorangi Murphy-Fell 
Publisher: Oratia Books
ISBN: 978-1-99-004259-1 
RRP: $39.99
Available: bookshops, www.oratia.co.nz
​
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Art book celebrates extraordinary women artists

13/9/2024

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Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa
​by Kirsty Baker


From Rita Angus to Merata Mita, Fiona Clark to Mataaho Collective, Sight Lines tells the story of art made by women in Aotearoa.
    This is an important book that celebrates painters, weavers, sculptors, photographers, poets, activists, textile artists and performers.
    The substantial text-heavy book of 430 pages celebrates 35 extraordinary women artists from Aotearoa. It includes over 150 illustrations and is written by art historian and curator, Dr Kirsty Baker from Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). Baker is the perfect person to write this book as her thesis through Victoria University of Wellington — Te Herenga Waka, ‘Constituting the “Woman Artist”: A Feminist Genealogy of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Art History 1928–1989’
 —  was awarded a place on the prestigious Doctoral Dean’s List for 2020. 
    In a recent interview with NZ Booklovers, Baker was asked what inspired her to write the book. “I’m interested in the shortcomings and exclusions of feminisms, and how we can go about trying to rectify them…I find art itself to be endlessly inspiring so in fundamental terms it was art, and the artists who make it, that really inspired the book”.

   
Sight Lines includes contributions by Chloe Cull (Ngāti Tahu, Ngāti Te Ruahikihiki), Ngarino Ellis (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou), Ioana Gordon-Smith (Faleula, Le’auva’a, Pākehā), Rangimarie Sophie Jolley (Waikato-Tainui), Lana Lopesi, Hanahiva Rose (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tahu, Ngāti Toa), Huhana Smith (Ngāti Tukorehe, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga) and Megan Tamati-Quennell (Te Āti Awa, Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe) adding a depth of knowledge and perspective.  
    Examples of these are; Wāhine Māori and the Worlds of Adornment: He toi rākai, he mana wāhine, he mana tāngata – by the arts of adornment, there is the prestige of women and all people, by Ngarino Ellis (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou); Ka Whawhai Tonu Mātou: The revolution reflected by the work of Robyn Kahukiwa, by Rangimarie Sophie Jolley (Waikato-Tainui); and ‘We were making art, which is what we always wanted to do’: Elizabeth Ellis and Mere Lodge, by Chloe Cull (Ngāti Tahu,
Ngāti Te Ruahikihiki).
    Throughout 
Sight Lines there are three major thematic threads, focusing on how women artists have whanaungatanga (relationships) with whenua (land) and how they express themselves through their art. The second, the term woman itself, is reflected upon in the ways that woman pushed against gendered barriers. Lastly, the thread of speaking back, by looking at the ways that artists have used their practice to speak back to the exclusions and limitations of art history and art institutions. 
    I found the protest theme a fascinating read. On page 184, Baker writes,          “Currents of protests and resistance have always been embedded in artistic practice in Aotearoa. By unpicking this rich seam, we can trace the myriad ways in which the visual, visceral and emotive power of art-making has been harnessed to illuminate urgent socio-political concerns”.

    The book has been warmly received. But there has been some debate about the women included and omitted in Sight Lines. Baker stated in an interview on RNZ National Radio, “An attempt on a complete history of women’s art history is doomed to fail”. Clearly not all New Zealand artists can be included, but I was surprised that Gretchen Albrecht CNZM, painter and sculptor, Ans Westra CNZM and Fiona Pardington MNZM, photographers, Kura Te Waru-Rewiri, artist, academic and educator, Raukura Turei, painter and architect and Dagmar Vaikalafi Dyck, a Tongan interdisciplinary artist were not included. In her defense, Baker said, “I didn’t want to include artists without their permission and participation from them and or their whanau”. 
    Sight Lines has a luxurious fabric book cover with the image body/house in pride of place, by visual artist, poet and film-maker Joanna Margaret Paul. The extensive index, artist notes and detailed glossary adds value to the book.
    Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa, is an excellent asset for any library, school or personal book collection. An inspirational and informative read to motivate future generations of New Zealand artists and to understand their history and what has motivated their work.

Review by Renee Hollis
Title: Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa 
Author: Kirsty Baker
Publisher: Auckland University Press
ISBN: 9781869409982
RRP: $69.99
Available: bookshops

​
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Clear colourful illustrations in children’s book

6/9/2024

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Beau and the Stone Giant
by Hydie Balle-Hands
​illustrated by Audee Halim


A quest, an adventure, and three keen young dogs equipped with swords – all elements in this picture book that will captivate youngsters for the vitality of the story. 
    Adding to the appeal are some less usual creatures – a stone giant, a friendly flying tuatara, ferocious flying fish in a merciless sea, and a bad dragon guarding a special harakeke on Whispering Mountain.
    The text is mainly in rhyming couplets, with altering metre, and the vocabulary will need some interpretation for most little ones, so this works better for an adult-to-child reader rather than as a self-read for children themselves.
    A mixture of New Zealand and foreign elements in the text and illustrations broadens its reach to a wider audience.
    The book is beautifully presented on high quality paper, with the clear and colourful illustrations by Audee Halim more than supporting the text.

Review by Emily R
Title: Beau and the Stone Giant
Author: Hydie Balle-Hands; Illustrator Audee Halim
Publisher: Beau Books
ISBN: 978-0-473-71786-5
RRP: $22.99
Available:  Paperback: selected stores and online from www.beaubooks.co.nz;
online at wheelers.co.nz; Ebook: Amazon Kindle, Apple Books
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