So what's the deal with all this seed swapping that's propagating across our libraries? Well, it's been growing quietly for a while, and I was there when it all began... It all started just after the February 2011 earthquake, as so many other interesting projects did. When my usual library (the Central Library) was closed…
The Alice Network – Review
I spent the last couple of weeks down the rabbit hole, head buried in The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. The story captured me from the very beginning—no need to read to page 90 with this one; I was hooked by page two! Nineteen forty-seven was hell for little bony girls like me who couldn't…
Remembering Norman Kirk
A big man in every sense, Norman Kirk was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1972 to 1974, and leader of the New Zealand Labour Party from 1965 to 1974. He died on 31 August 1974 and I would like to pay homage and possibly introduce him to another generation of Kiwis. It's not a…
Shifting Points of View: Fail Safe Fail Better
"Notice the difference between what happens when a man says to himself, I have failed three times, and what happens when he says, I am a failure." S.J. Hayakwa The first session of WORD Christchurch's Shifting Points of View sessions at the Christchurch Arts Festival is Fail Safe, Fail Better with Witi Ihimaera, Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel, Clementine…
Win tickets to Captain Underpants: the First Epic Movie – plus an activity pack
Hey kids! We gave you the chance to win a prize to celebrate the release of Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie on 28 September. Thanks for your brilliant suggestions for a new Cap'n Underpants book title! Congratulations to Caleb, who was the winner. His suggestion? Captain Underpants and the primate's baggy underpants Here are…
220th birthday anniversary of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein
In June 1816 a young woman awoke from a terrifying nightmare. Later, she would recount the vision which had left her so unsettled. “I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, at the working of…
Not such a strange meeting – Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon
100 years ago last week at Craiglockhart Hospital for Neurasthenic Officers in Edinburgh, Wilfred Owen introduced himself to Siegfried Sassoon and one of the great literary friendships was born. Wilfred was recovering from shellshock, deeply traumatised by his time on the Western Front in 1917. Siegfried, grieving and angry at the deaths of his friends…
Listening to Reni Eddo-Lodge
This is a slightly odd blog. I don't know a huge amount about Reni Eddo-Lodge, and because of the way her session at the upcoming WORD Christchurch Shifting Points of View series at the Christchurch Arts Festival is titled, I want to go into it with as open a mind as possible and without too many…
Two Young Women: Picturing Canterbury
Unknown subjects. Photo reproduced from a glass negative by Glyn Williams. Date: 1910s Entry in the 2014 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt by Glyn Williams. Kete Christchurch is a collection of photographs and stories about Christchurch and Canterbury, past and present. Anyone can join and contribute. Visit Kete Christchurch View more Picturing Canterbury posts Do you know who these two…
The Book Smugglers of Timbuktu by Charlie English
The Book Smugglers of Timbuktu details the events of 2012 as Timbuktu (in Mali) comes under the control of jihadists linked to al-Qaeda.
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