Sometimes in libraries we think about poo. Not necessarily because we want to but because our public toilets sometimes get blocked, sometimes books get Suspicious Stains on them, and sometimes we wonder how many royal toddler toilet training picture books there are... And if you really think about it poo is quite important, and you…
The future is just around the corner…
Yesterday I happened to be in Cathedral Square, walking past An Origin Story's lovely hoardings around the convention centre site. As you can see in the image, from one angle the panel which states that 'the future is just around the corner' points right to Tūranga - the future of Ōtautahi is appearing right in…
Talking about race – Reni Eddo-Lodge and Victor Rodger: WORD Christchurch Shifting Points of View
In an engrossing event at Christchurch Art Gallery, Reni Eddo-Lodge was in conversation with playwright Victor Rodger. She talked us through her thought-provoking debut book Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race. This collection of essays seeks to unpick and challenge white dominant ideology. The idea for the book grew out of a…
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…
Resolution and revolutionaries: A. N. Wilson, eminent biographer
There was an understandably big crowd at The Piano last night for A. N. Wilson in conversation with Christopher Moore. Part of the WORD Christchurch Autumn Season, we were treated to insights about the eminent novelist and biographer's new and upcoming works, as well as his distinguished career. As you can see, I was quite a…
Buses, Byzantium and fangirling Stella Duffy
Many years ago I used to bus up and down the Walworth Road and round the Elephant and Castle, south of the Thames in London, either on the 68 or the 468 (if memory serves me right Janet Frame used to take one of those buses, or one very similar). While I'd spend quite a…
The magic word ‘Anzac’
On 25 April we will stop to remember those who served in the conflicts New Zealand has participated in, from the world wars to Iraq and Afghanistan, via Korea, Vietnam and others, and not forgetting New Zealand’s 19th century wars and the Boer War. There is much to remember, and this year the focus will…
We need to talk about America…
Not that we haven't been doing just that for the last few months, but there's so much to say. America fascinates and repulses me. I couldn't live there - not just because I would eat all the food - but it is a fascinating place to observe, and we are fortunate to generally be able…
Tell me a story
Stories are essential - without them nothing really has any meaning. But stories and meaning and knowledge are being lost all the time. We were honoured to have Charles Te Ahukaramū Royal as one of our presenters. He spoke about how the exact meaning of some words to describe Māori types of story has become unclear…
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