Monday, July 31, 2017

Book Launch Invitation


Tuesday 15 August, 5.30pm
Meow, Edward St.
You are warmly invited to the launch of

Tess
by Kirsten McDougall

on Tuesday 15 August, 5.30pm–7.00pm
at Meow, 9 Edward St, Te Aro

Cash bar
Books will be for sale courtesy of Unity Books
$25, p/b

About Tess

                 


 
 
 
Copyright © 2017 Victoria University Press, All rights reserved.
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Radio with pictures... and arts, theatre, film, comedy, books, dance, entertainment and music.


                  
                       

This week's stories

Force Multiplier

Indi Force is a music mentor, teaches composition, works at the Christchurch Art Gallery and in her spare time, composes for screen and stage.
Jul 30, 2017 02:49 pm

A Work of Heart

It's part of a project to raise the profile of nursing, New Zealand nurses have expressed their pride, their grief, their observations and their frustrations with the health system, in a collection of poems called Listening with my heart.
Jul 30, 2017 02:40 pm

Elizabethan Society was Riddled with Informers and Spies

Dr. Bill Angus, a lecturer at Massey University's School of English and Media Studies has been exploring the role of spies and informers in the scripts and society of the Bard and his contemporaries in his new book, Metadrama and the Informer in Shakespeare and Jonson.
Jul 30, 2017 02:25 pm

On your marks...Lights, Camera, Action

Ant Timpson's always pretty busy. If he's not programming the Incredibly Strange section of the New Zealand International Film Festival, or producing some fairly Strange films himself like the Greasy Strangler, he's getting set for his marathon weekend of DIY Kiwi film-making, the 48 Hour Movie Challenge.
Jul 30, 2017 01:50 pm

The Restoration of Christchurch Arts Centre

Since 2013, photographer Johannes van Kan has been putting on a hard hat and hi-vis jacket to photograph the restoration of the historic Christchurch Arts Centre.
Jul 30, 2017 01:33 pm

Valuable...by Design

A new report has calculated that Design contributes about 4.2% of GDP and more than ninety four thousand full time equivalent jobs.
Jul 30, 2017 12:45 pm

Lydia Wevers bids a fond farewell to the Stout Research Centre

After 17 years championing New Zealand studies and culture, Professor Lydia Wevers has just stood down as director of Victoria University's Stout Research Centre in Wellington.
Jul 30, 2017 12:15 pm

Older stories

Traditional Threads, Contemporary Colour
Words and Politics
Objectspace
Changing the Subject on TV Movies
Wikimuseums
Remembering Mrs. Elizabeth Pinfold
Telling True Stories at the New Zealand IFF
Not all audio is available due to copyright restrictions
Visit the full archive of stories from Standing Room

Ars Journal - Words

Poet Ocean Vuong On Translation, Success, And Optimism In This Moment

Vuong says that it’s far more common to be from a poor background than a middle-class one, but the literary world doesn’t seem to know it. “The fact of the matter is that displacement, immigration and war are some of the most common factors of human history, so I always insist with a little mischievousness that I’m writing something very normal, very common. In fact, perhaps the middle class story is the exotic.”

The Woman Bringing A Bookstore Back To The Bronx

Noelle Santos, who’s been crowdfunding for the store-to-be: “We need a physical space like a bookstore, whether it be independent or a chain store. It serves this physiological purpose that Amazon cannot reproduce. Amazon is not a bookstore. They are an algorithm, and that’s all.”

Kiwi readers swayed by recommendations, film and television when voting for their favourite books


When it comes to voting for their favourite books, Kiwis prefer to read books that have been recommended to them and those that have been adapted for the screen.

More than half the books in the top 20 spots of the Whitcoulls Top 100 Books List, announced today, have been adapted in to film or television shows, including Me Before You (number 5), The Girl on the Train (number 13), the Outlander Series (number 7) and Song of Fire and Ice/Game of Thrones (number 8). This trend looks set to continue with online streaming options becoming increasingly popular.

 
As ever, Harry Potter reigns supreme with the mega-bestselling series again claiming the number one spot. Lee Child comes in at number two with his 21st Jack Reacher novel Night School, in the same year that, coincidentally, Whitcoulls celebrate 21 years of asking New Zealanders to vote for their favourite books. Lee Child has featured in the Top 100 every year since its inception in 1996.

Joan Mackenzie, Whitcoulls Book Manager and the voice behind influential reading list Joan’s Picks says, “We’ve discovered some wonderful books in the last year and shared them with our customers, and large numbers of them have obviously agreed with us and voted them in to the Top 100.”

Recommended reads also feature strongly, with Whitcoulls Joan’s Picks titles often being favoured by Kiwi readers. These include: I Am Pilgrim (number 3), Lilac Girls (number 9), Big Little Lies (number 10), All the Light We Cannot See (number 12), Kill the Father (number 34) and The Baltimore Boys (number 61).

Nearly one third of the books voted in to the Top 100 are newcomers. Many of these are new releases, while some are perennial favourites, including The Edmonds Cookbook, which reappears at number 67 after disappearing altogether last year. The most popular author is Jodi Picoult, who has six individual titles in the Top 100; the most of any writer.

“We’re especially pleased to see the young poet Rupi Kaur – a huge success at this year’s Auckland Writers Festival – receive so much attention. Her book Milk & Honey (number 70) has resonated with readers around the world, and New Zealanders have equally taken her to their hearts,” said Mackenzie.

The Whitcoulls Top 100 Books List is always eclectic and expresses the nation’s diverse reading tastes; from blockbusters to home-grown talent and quirky international titles. Fiction always predominates, but not at the expense of quality non-fiction, with memoirs, health & wellbeing and personal development books among the favourites. 

Mackenzie says, “In an age of social media, busy lives and many demands on peoples’ time, it seems that reading still holds a special place in our customers’ lives, and the passion and enthusiasm for favourite books is as strong as ever.”

This year, voting again broke all records with votes 8% higher than last year and online voting proving the most popular way for Kiwis to cast their votes. The Top 100 books are available at Whitcoulls stores nationwide and online at www.whitcoulls.co.nz.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Writers on Mondays


WRITERS ON MONDAYS

The Little Death of Self: Marianne Boruch

American poet Marianne Boruch notes that 'Both poetry and the essay come from the same impulse - to think about something and at the same time, see it closely, carefully, and enact it.' A recent poetry collection Cadaver, Speak, sees her in the dissection room considering the ravages and resilience of the body, and in her new essay collection The Little Death of Self, Boruch's restless curiosity ranges across science, music, medicine and art, asking questions such as 'Why does the self grow smaller as the poem grows enormous?' She is joined by poet and essayist Chris Price to explore how her poetry and essays approach the big topics of love, death and human knowledge.

DATE:   Monday 31 July
TIME:    12.15-1.1pm
VENUE: Te Papa Marae, Level 4, Te Papa
Please note that no food may be taken onto the Te Papa Marae

The Roundup with PW

Amazon Suffers Major Earnings Drop in Q2
Increased investment led to a 51% decline in operating income in the second quarter of 2017 compared to the second quarter of 2016, Amazon reported The company's CFO also said Amazon continues to experiment with its bookstore model.
more »


Hachette Sales Up 5% in First Half of 2017
A strong performance by its Nashville-based imprints FaithWords and Center Street helped lift sales 5% at Hachette Book Group in the first half of 2017 over the comparable period in 2016.
more »



Oddest Book Title of the Year Announced: 'The Commuter Pig Keeper' by Michaela Giles won the Bookseller magazine’s Diagram prize for oddest book title of the year.

German Mag Cuts 'Antisemitic' Book: 'Der Spiegel' removed 'Finis Germania' by Rolf Peter Sieferle from its bestsellers list over 'right-wing extremist' content.

Obscure J.M. Barrie Play Reappears: The 'Peter Pan' author's 'Reconstruction of the Crime' was rarely seen until 'The Strand Magazine' published it this week.

100 Must-Read Books on Writing: For advice that goes beyond the classic books on writing, aspiring scribes can read titles such as 'The Art of Death' by Edwidge Danticat.

Author-Recommended Beach Reads: Four authors can help you find your next beach book with this list of 18 fiction titles that includes 'Exit West' by Mohsin Hamid.
 
VIEW ALL »
 


Arts Journal - Words


How Data About Writing Is Changing Writing

“A few decades ago, the advent of the word processor made it easier than ever to revise on the fly; it also made it easy to dwell on one sentence ad infinitum, gilding the lily where once one would’ve advanced to the next thought. The glut of data is another mixed blessing—past a certain point, writers would do better in a state of blissful ignorance.”

The Trump Era Is Changing What Books Are Being Written And Bought (Is It Harder Now?)

“For authors whose books were released in the thick of the political storm, to booksellers watching readers flock to dystopian works, the Trump administration has succeeded in influencing our consideration of books—not necessarily for better or for worse, but in ways that demonstrate how much we need words to survive and provide solace for troubling times ahead.”


Hachette UK
Hachette UK has recorded a sales uplift of 10.2% for the first half of the year, boosted by strong sales in its adult trade arm and Hodder Education.
NIcola Solomon
The Society of Authors chief executive Nicola Solomon has called on publishers to adhere to a seven-step plan to ensure that special sales or “ultra-high” discounted sales do not damage authors’ overall earnings or the market for full-price sales.
Ehsan Abdollahi
Following a swell of public support, Iranian children’s illustrator Ehsan Abdollahi has been granted a visa to enter the UK with just days to go before he is due to attend Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Fiona Mozley
John Murray's gamble on an acquiring editor's first signing has paid off after part-time bookseller Fiona Mozley's unpublished debut Elmet made her the youngest author on 2017's Man Booker Prize longlist.
The Commuter Pig-Keeper
A guide for the modern time-harrassed pig keeper has roasted the rest of the shortlist, trotting home with The Bookseller’s 39th annual Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year.
The Kite Runner
Bloomsbury is launching a new modern classics series this September featuring titles by Khaled Hosseini, William Boyd and Donna Tartt.
   

Hillary Clinton
Simon & Schuster UK has said that Hillary Clinton's forthcoming book, first acquired as a collection of essays, will in fact constitute her "most personal memoir yet".
Jeff Bezos
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos briefly became the world’s richest person as shares in the e-commerce giant rose ahead of the release of its second quarter results.
Emily Yau
Quercus Fiction has hired Ebury's Emily Yau as editorial director at the imprint. 
Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Underground Railroad (Fleet) has won the Arthur C Clarke Award for Science Fiction Literature.
Head of Zeus
Nikky Ward, currently senior sales executive at Atlantic, is to join Head of Zeus as digital sales manager.
Jo Greig
Jo Greig, previously international marketing director and western European sales director at Macmillan Education, has been appointed sales and marketing director at Bristol University Press and its imprint Policy Press.