Charlotte Grimshaw endures a novel full of ‘knowing and coy references to real people’ in New Zealand literature. I have a friend who refers to a certain weekly newspaper column as “the Seventh Form essay.” I recalled this description recently while reading Anne Kennedy’s new novel, The Ice Shelf. “Seventh Form essay” not only implies writing … Read more
New verse by Auckland writer Courtney Sina Meredith. 1 1 x mother 1 x ‘father’ 1 x shooting star Courtney Sina Meredith, 2018 The Spinoff Review of Books is proudly brought to you by Unity Books.
Only 67 shopping days till Xmas! Get in early and peruse the week’s biggest-selling books at the Unity stores in Willis St, Wellington, and High St, Auckland. WELLINGTON UNITY 1 Karori Confidential by Leah McFall (Luncheon Sausage Books, $25) Witty, luminous collection by the Sunday magazine columnist. So many zingers! “Karori is like Gloriavale without the … Read more
The always hilarious and brilliant Leah McFall, who releases her new book of selected columns this week, pays her respects to five of the most hilarious and brilliant women writers of all time – Jane Austen, Nancy Mitford, Sue Townsend, Erma Bombeck, and Nora Ephron. If humour writing is a craft, then I’m apprenticed to five dead women. … Read more
Slam poetry! It’s raw, it’s rough, and it’s also a wildly popular live entertainment, writes Ben Fagan, who is masterminding slam events across the country this month. One of my favourite poetry moments happened a few years ago. I was at a slam in Wellington. It was packed. Someone had just finished performing and there was a … Read more
Three writers pocketed $60,000 last night at the Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement. Spinoff Review of Books literary editor Steve Braunias was there, apparently. O 60 large! O three prizes of 60 large, handed out last night to the three esteemed winners of the 2018 Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement, at the prime … Read more
Maurice Gee – recently named the author of the best New Zealand book of the past 50 years – writes a memoir of the boy who had a dark, terrifying idea for a game: “You be a girl, eh, and I’ll be a man climbing in the window.” Content warning: This excerpt contains a threat of sexual violence. I doubt that … Read more
New verse by Devonport writer Kevin Ireland. Lamb stew with bonus Gently fry tomatoes and green peppers. Toss them in a casserole. Use olive oil, not butter. Flavour them with home-cured bacon, and throw in plenty of shallots – they’re better halved or whole. Don’t forget turmeric, herbs, black pepper, and, of … Read more
Books, books and more books. No captions because our esteemed Braunias, Steve Braunias is away this week, but still, here are the best-selling books from the Unity stores on Willis Street, Wellington and High Street, Auckland. WELLINGTON UNITY 1 Heart of Jesus Valentino: A Mother’s Story by Emma Gilkison (Awa Press, $40) 2 Transcription by Kate Atkinson … Read more
The 2019 Man Booker prize is announced next week. Scarlett Cayford reviews two of the shortlisted novels, Milkman by Anna Burns and Everything Under by Daisy Johnson. The first pages of Milkman by Anna Burns feel like the beginning of a dystopian novel. We’re familiar with the conventions: a feeling of being observed, an urgent … Read more
The 2019 Man Booker prize is announced next week. Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews two of the shortlisted novels, Washington Black by Esi Edugyan and The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner. Previously in Man Booker Prize Fight Week: Philip Matthews on Robin Robertson and Richard Powers This year’s Bookers shortlist contained a few surprises – including the … Read more
The 2018 Man Booker prize is announced next week. Philip Matthews reviews two of the shortlisted novels, The Long Take by Robin Robertson and The Overstory by Richard Powers. I can’t promise that everyone would necessarily enjoy Robin Robertson’s The Long Take, but you will remain haunted by it. You may have heard it described as the … Read more
We could have chosen some text from the new biography of the phenomenal Mika but yeah nah let the pictures do the talking. Jermaine Leef, Mika and Parai Parai in ‘Ahi Wai’ Kapai Kabaret photo shoot by Arjan Hoeflak, 1995. Mika in front of the sign at GayBiGayBi, SXSW, Austin, 2015, having just arrived on … Read more
Only 81 shopping days till Xmas! Get in early and peruse the week’s biggest-selling books at the Unity stores in Willis St, Wellington, and High St, Auckland. WELLINGTON UNITY 1 Transcription by Kate Atkinson (Doubleday, $38) “It is 1940 and Juliet Armstrong, in her late teens, educated but idealistic, is employed by a mysterious arm … Read more
New verse by writer Mary-Jane Duffy. The invisible years The invisible older woman is in focus now. Sorry, she has you in focus now. She looks at you. She wants so much to look at you. She’s invisible. No one notices her. Good. The invisible older woman sneaks around the corner following that … Read more
Philip Matthews reviews a new memoir of genius director David Lynch, who emerges from the book as a “happy neurotic”. Dougie heard the name and everything changed. If you watched last year’s mesmerising Twin Peaks reboot, Twin Peaks: The Return, you will know what I mean. If you didn’t, spoilers follow. We are deep into episode … Read more
Poet Laureate Selina Tusitala Marsh tells of the time she went swimming in deep, deep water with novelist Lloyd Jones at Byron Bay. The first time I meet Lloyd Jones is nearly my last. He’d promised me breakfast and a dip near Captain Cook’s Lookout – I should’ve suspected something then. Indigenous encounters and all. We … Read more
Why is so much writing too afraid to ever dare be offensive? A new literary journal produced in the Orkney Islands attempts to introduce some bad manners – with assistance from New Zealand authors. In February of this year, Craig Marriner published an essay with all the stoor of Hunter S Thompson at full throttle. … Read more
Former journalist Emma Gilkison writes about a routine scan at Starship, where a paediatric cardiologist said to her, “There are two issues with your baby’s heart.” Content note: this book extract may be distressing for some readers. Regina Spektor’s song ‘Fidelity’ filled the cabin as our plane took off for Auckland. I loved this song. … Read more
The week’s biggest-selling books at the Unity stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND UNITY 1 That F Word: Growing up feminist in Aotearoa by Lizzie Marvelly (Harper Collins, $35) “This book is for the bossy little girl in all of us. It’s time that we disrupted the fuck out of the patriarchy.” … Read more
New verse by Wellington writer Chris Tse. Release Not before I stir you from your sleep, and ask whether this is the last time I’ll see you before you hop that plane for Sydney. We’ll hold each other, cheek to cheek, when we both hear the answer. Not before you slip on your trousers, hunt … Read more
Danyl Mclauchlan examines the latest work of one of the most famous public intellectuals in the world. Five years ago, Yuval Noah Harari was a humble academic, quietly lecturing at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where he specialised in medieval history. In 2014 his fourth book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind – originally published in … Read more
Content note: this essay may be distressing for some readers. Years later I read that fighting with your partner while pregnant can cause the foetus life-threatening stress. I remember Fiji, where Robert doesn’t notice that he’s used a $US100 note to buy something. American notes all look the same and he thinks it’s a single … Read more
Alan Perrott reports on the pressures of running a secondhand bookstore in 2018. Maud Cahill has owned secondhand bookstore Jason Books in downtown Auckland since 2002. “My parents didn’t read very much,” she says. “But I can’t remember not having books. I’d go to the library every week, search every shelf with children’s books, then go … Read more
On this episode of Papercuts we delve into all the latest book news, deep dive into the Booker longlisted (update: and scandalously not shortlisted), Normal People and ask who the fuck is Bob Woodward. With a lot more book & non-book related recommendations included! Check out the Booker Shortlist here! (Announced after recording) https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/20/man-booker-2018-shortlist-daisy-johnson-anna-burns-rachel-kushner-richard-powers-esi-edugyan-robin-robertson To … Read more
New verse by Featherston writer Sam Duckor-Jones. People from the Pit Stand Up by Sam Duckor-Jones (Victoria University Press, $30) is available at Unity Books.
The week’s best-selling books at the Unity stores in Willis St, Wellington, and High St, Auckland. WELLINGTON UNITY 1 Stardust and Substance: The New Zealand general election of 2017 edited by Stephen Levine (Victoria University Press, $40) Let’s do this, etc. 2 Transcription by Kate Atkinson (Doubleday, $38) “A spy’s assumed identities come back to haunt her … Read more
Charlotte Graham-McLay is dazzled by the new novel by JK Rowling (writing as Robert Galbraith), which arrived in shops this week and went flying out the door like broomsticks. Crime writers have long specialised in grotesquely, even comically bad men, but if there’s one thing the past year has taught us, it’s that we aren’t always … Read more
Whangarei writer Michael Botur continues our occasional series which examines whether literature exists in any shape or form in the regions. He reports from Northland, home to Sam Hunt, Kelly Ana Morey, and a romance writer who sells more books than you’ve had hot dinners or whatever. Tiny Rawene hosted the Hokianga Book Festival earlier this month, … Read more