Fionaccl's Blog

Joyce Carol Oates: The Word Master

The Doll Master is the latest offering from Joyce Carol Oates (aged 79!). And she's as fresh as ever. The Doll-master and Other Tales of Terror Highly recommended by Gillian Flynn, The Doll Master is a riveting collection of thrillingly sinister stories from the dark side of life. All is not as it appears. Each protagonist […]

Sleeps Standing / Moetū by Witi Ihimaera

"E hoa, ka whawhaitonu mātou, ake, ake, ake!" "Friend, I shall fight against you for ever, for ever!" Sleeps Standing / Moetū (Witi Ihimaera and Hēmi Kelly) Kia ora readers. What a coup for Te wiki o te Reo Māori this book is. A bilingual text in Māori and English, Sleeps Standing / Moetū is written by […]

Fail Safe / Fail Better – WORD Christchurch Shifting Points of View

One thing Fail Safe Fail Better did not do was fail to deliver. Six speakers gave candid, entertaining and unique accounts of both personal and professional failures in their lives. Not at all negative, the evening was filled with magic. Glenn Colquhoun invoked ghosts of poets past on the walls of the Christchurch Art Centre's Great Hall and […]

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 […]

Remembering our most colourful author: Margaret Mahy

23 July marks the 5th anniversary of the passing of one of Christchurch's most famous locals, Margaret Mahy. One of New Zealand's most prolific writers for children and young adults, Margaret's writing has touched lives over many generations. Her stories and poems are full of magic and fun with a moral tale in the weaving. Many of her […]

Opera: Carmen at the Isaac Theatre Royal

Opening night at the beautifully restored Isaac Theatre Royal. The talk of the excited crowd dies down to murmurs as the lights dim. Light glitters from gilded panels. The open stage begins to fill with the cast, who stare heroically at the audience, then walk off to leave the lead character exposed. Carmen, by Georges Bizet, is an […]

(The last person to call me) Sweet Pea (ended up dead) by C. J. Skuse

Ever thought of getting your own back on people who burst your bubble? Forget the Bucket list, Rhiannon Lewis has a Kill List. The guy who squashes her groceries. The man that cuts her off every morning when she crosses the road. The colleague who takes credit for her work. And uses joke forms of her name. The […]

New Books – 29 June

Hi readers, some treats this week: This biography caught my eye - the authorised story of Nina Simone. What Happened, Miss Simone? What Happened, Miss Simone? is inspired by a documentary. Music journalist Alan Light (The Holy or Unbroken : Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley and the unlikely ascent of Hallelujah, and Lets Go Crazy: Prince and […]

Happy Birthday James K. Baxter!

Hokitika Bill, Hokitika Bill. I remember chanting this poem aloud at Primary School. Poet James K. Baxter was born in Dunedin on 29 June 1926. His parents were thinkers - his father Archibald was a conscientious objector and Millicent, his mother had been to College in Sydney. The dichotomy of social order was represented by his family - […]

New Books – 23 June

Hi there, some great looking titles in the box this week. Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy, Futurama, Married with Children) has written an autobiography! Grace Notes tells the story of Sagal's amazing and challenging life (not the least having a baby at 52), told as a series of essays. Christina Applegate hails the memoir as […]

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