Getting your eyebrows nearly burnt off and other things that shouldn't happen to a Lady - the amusing letters of settler, Mary Anne Barker.
Before Tūranga – The Lyttelton Times
The third in a series of posts that looks at the history of the central Christchurch sites on which your new library, Tūranga, has been built. Next to Cathedral Chambers/Hobbs' Corner was the home of the Lyttelton Times and the Star. The Lyttelton Times originally set up in Lyttelton with the printing press that arrived on the Charlotte…
Te Ao Hou – Weaving indigenous identity back into Ōtautahi: WORD Christchurch Festival 2018
It was a chilly, damp, blustery and all-over a very Christchurch kind of day on Friday. Sheltered in the foyer of the Piano was a small and well-wrapped group of people, both long-term locals and people visiting just for the weekend, waiting for our 90 minute tour of the central city with Joseph Hullen (Ngāi Tūāhuriri/Ngāti…
An evening with Ivan Coyote – Tuesday 16 May at WORD Christchurch Autumn Season
Last year, I went to two events run by WORD Christchurch, and I fell in love with Ivan E Coyote. I first saw them (Ivan goes by the gender-neutral pronoun) at Speaking Proud which I'd attended to see old favourite David Levithan. Ivan read their reply to a letter someone had written them, 'Shouldn't I feel pretty'…
Canterbury – a hive of activity for 165 years
165 years ago this January, a ship called the Mary arrived in Lyttelton bringing two hives of honey bees from Nelson. The history of introduced bees in New Zealand is unusually linked with women named Mary. Back in 1839, a woman called Mary Bumby first brought European bees to New Zealand. Miss Bumby, with her appropriately bee-ish…
Back in time and half a world away
Armchair travel is always a big hit over the Summer holidays, so we've put together a travel list with a bit of a twist... Come, throw yourself backwards in time and half a world away. Our new booklist, International Historical Fiction, has heaps of recommendations from all over the world, and from many different time…
Loathly ladies: Women writing horror
Women writing wickedness: salute our sinister sisters by horrifying yourself this Halloween with some monstrous madams. Horror can appear in different forms, and means many different things to many different people. It's in whispers from an empty attic, it's in jerky movements beyond the edge of the campfire, it's in vast and unstoppable forces of evil or…
Remembering the Somme
September the 15th marks the day the New Zealand infantry joined the battle of the Somme, and this year marks exactly one hundred years from that catastrophic day. It was our first major experience with the Western Front, a very, very different kind of battle to the ones we had experienced in Gallipoli, and would…
Halswell Heroes
I started to research the Halswell Heroes late last year, as Te Hāpua: Halswell Centre was gearing up to open. The project involves staff from nearby libraries; Upper Riccarton and Spreydon as well as the staff from the old Halswell library. We all chose a soldier from the Halswell War Memorial, and have been researching…
Can you handle the truth?
The truth can be rough, can be inspiring, or depressing, or fascinating - or all of the above. Good biography writers know that, and know exactly how to grip you in with stories of real people and the astonishing lives they've lived - or are still living. Biographies are a way to see history and culture…
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