Christchurch City Libraries Blog

Rakaia Girl Guide and Brownie (in the white hats) packs in 1933.

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It’s impossible to deny that this summer has been better than last. There are actually tomatoes on the plants and they’re ripening. The courgettes are bountiful, the cucumbers abundant and the pumpkins have just about taken over the lawn. Life has become a cornucopia of riches and it’s time to harvest.

Last year I bought tomatoes (because the yield off our own plants was so pathetic) and got preserving. I’m not much of a jam maker but I did find some good easy recipes that lasted us through the winter months.

My Tomato Chilli Jam was a particular success thanks to Annabel Langbein. I noticed there’s a similar recipe in this month’s NZ Gardener magazine. I also made curried tomato sauce a la Alison Holst and this year I’m going to have a go at pizza sauce topping.

Has anyone got a good recipe?

My first couple of reads for the year have been dystopian novels and this looks to be a growing trend in Young Adult fiction. Personally I love dystopian novels.  I love the imaginations of these authors who build a society that could easily exist in the not-too-distant future.  They take a small piece of today’s society, such as social networking or consumerism, and ask ‘what if this got totally out of control?’

In Rae Mariz’ debut novel The Unidentified, 15 year-old Katey (AKA Kid) goes to school in the Game, an alternative education system run by corporations.  These ‘Games’ have been set up in disused shopping malls, so where there used to be shops, there are different spaces that students can go to try new products and participate in activities to increase their ‘score.’ 

The students vie with each other to be noticed and sponsored (or ‘branded’) by the corporations, thereby giving them celebrity status and financial freedom.  Students each have iPad-like devices that they use to update their profile pages and live streams. When Kid witnesses a mock suicide staged by an anonymous group called the Unidentified, she begins to doubt the system. The story will strike a chord with teens and they’ll be able to really relate to Kid and the suffocating world she lives in.

If you’re a fan of  YA dystopian fiction there are plenty of titles to choose from.  Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games Trilogy is the most obvious choice (and the most popular) but here are a few others I recommend:

• The Maze Runner and the sequel, The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
• The Ship Builder by Paolo Bacigalupi
• Matched by Ally Condie
• Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Necrology – a list of notable people who have died recently

Milton Babbitt, 1916-2011
American composer, particularly noted for his serial and electronic music
John Barry, 1933-2011
Five-time Oscar-winning composer for such films as Out of Africa and Born Free who was best known for his James Bond scores
Vincent Cronin, 1924-2011
Son of AJ Cronin who wrote acclaimed historical biographies and books about the Renaissance
Joe Gores, 1937-2011
Hard-boiled crime-writer considered the heir to Dashiell Hammett who drew on his own experience as a P.I.
Don Grady, 1929-2011
New Zealand journalist and author
John Gross, 1935-2011
Literary critic, anthologist and man of letters once described as ‘the best-read man in Britain’
John Hinchcliffe, 1949-2011
Weaver, ceramicist and printmaker whose creations expressed his love of colour and dynamic pattern
Dick King-Smith, 1922-2011
Farmer, budgerigar breeder and children’s author who wrote the story behind the film ‘Babe’
Margaret Price, 1941-2011
Soprano who excelled in Mozart, Strauss and Verdi and whose voice could melt the hardest heart
Gerry Rafferty, 1947-2011
Scottish singer-songwriter
Peter Spink, 1926-2011
Priest who took his ministry behind the Iron Curtain and later encouraged new forms of spirituality
Anthony Terence Quincey Stewart, 1929-2010
Belfast-born historian who reluctantly became a leading intellectual voice during the Troubles
Peter Yates, 1929-2011
British director behind the first – and still the best – car chase in film, the epic 10-minute pursuit in Bullitt
Susannah York, 1939-2011
Actress who epitomised the ‘Swinging Sixties’ and excelled in some of the classic films of the era

 The seventh of February marks the 199th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. I know because it’s also my birthday, and somehow this has always been a source of irrational pride. Yes it’s silly to feel reflected glory due to a random coincidence of birth dates but I’ve loved his books since my first Deans & Son edition of Oliver Twist terrified me with that murderer and dog-beater Bill Sikes (the dog beating seemed worse than the murder somehow and Bill’s death haunted me for years).

The 200th anniversary in 2012 will be huge for Dickensians around the world, but 2011 is a big year for the locals as the 105th International Dickens Fellowship conference will be held in Christchurch. It’s the first time in 105 years that the conference has been held in New Zealand.  The conference goes from Thursday 14 to Tuesday 19 April.

The Fellowship’s aims are “to knit together in a common bond of friendship, lovers of that great master of humour and pathos, Charles Dickens; to promote the knowledge and appreciation of his works; to spread the love of humanity, which is the keynote of all his works”, and there has been a branch in Christchurch since 1931.

Every year the Christchurch branch chooses a book,  some minor works and some journalism to study (this year the book is Nicholas Nickleby). They meet once a month and they produce a newsletter – Dickens Down Under.  Christchurch City Libraries has copies of the newsletter as well as holding the Fellowship’s archives from 1931 to 2001.

Happy birthday Charles Dickens; capable of being studied at school without becoming loathed for ever more, source of endless films and television series and creator of some of the most memorable characters, names and expressions in literature.

Hard as it is to choose, my favourite book is Great Expectations; adaptation for film or television Bleak House featuring Gillian Anderson as Lady Deadlock; favourite female  character Miss Havisham (largely for her fashion sense). Steerforth wins favourite male, a judgement shared  by Nancy Mitford‘s Radlett sisters. Favourite name, Uriah Heep; expression “Judy, shake me up a little“.

What are yours?

“Just one more turn,” she said.

“One more turn on everything.”

One more turn on the double decker slide. Another go on the spinny wheel. Another crawl through the bark chip-lined concrete pipe tunnel. A clamber over the tyre-covered dome. A swing, higher and higher. Then, finally, down the yellow curvy thing and into the car.

It was Friday night fish and chips at Corsair Bay to start Waitangi weekend. A sunset that went on forever. Light that made you think you really were the last one to see it; fading into the outstretched unknown, chased by the nagging nor-easter.

We raised our eyebrows to strangers, as if we are all agreed; all in the same boat; all on the same shaky isle.

“Look at that cool car, Daddy.”

An MG, then an Impala; a Morris Minor and a thundering Cobra. Must be the Skope Classic. We roll down the windows to enjoy the roar. A view of the water and people swimming to a raft. Tiring out the kids so we can have a quiet gin in the evening. Cheering for the underdog and admiring new talent at the Sevens. Mowing the lawns, whacking the weeds. Old friends and a barbeque. Laughing at the idea of Janet Frame and Margaret Mahy in John Clarke’s literary front row, because the game is won and lost up front, after all.

From the wind-beaten limestone at Castle Hill to the clay cliffs by the Ahuriri, this is a land of contrast. Hot, flat grey stones next to cold, rushing water. Aotearoa New Zealand. We occupy a unique place and culture – standing on the edge of the world, knowing it is not wedged shut.

How did you spend Waitangi weekend? And what is your favourite detour on the way home?

Flag chosen in March 1834 by 25 chiefs

February 6, Waitangi Day 2011  is the day that representatives of the British Crown and Maori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, Northland. The Treaty formed the foundation of a new nation and saw New Zealand become part of the British Empire.

Part of the lead-up to the signing of the Treaty was a document that was circulated and signed five years prior. That document was called the Declaration of Independence and was commissioned by James Busby (who was appointed by the British Government to his position in order to protect British trade interests) in reaction to activity from other countries on New Zealand shores, notably France and America. It was at this time that Maori chose the British to negotiate with – in response to French brutality – as a way of managing the newcomers and ensuring that they to behave according to tikanga.

The Declaration maintained that full sovereign power was with rangatira (chiefs). It was signed at Waitangi with northern rangatira and this was later extended to southern rangatira. The Declaration was made an official document in 1846 and outlines the legislative authority request of the rangatira which was also implicit in the Treaty.

For more information on the Declaration and the Treaty, a really helpful website to look at is Network Waitangi Otautahi. They are a non-profit organisation dedicated to education around the Treaty. You can also read the declaration in English and Maori on nzhistory.net.nz

Brush up on your NZ history skills and read what the library website has on Waitangi Day events.
Read our Waitangi Factsheet for a quick refresher of our National day.
See what is happening locally to celebrate Waitangi Day.
At your local library you will see more information and images  on display about Waitangi day.

Saturday 5 February is Classical Sparks night. A Christchurch tradition. I’m no classical music connoisseur, but who can resist the combination of booming music and fireworks!

If you want the Classical Sparks thrills to last, we’ve got a list of the music that will be  played that links to our catalogue. So if  you fall in love with a tune, you can look it up on Youtube, or get out a CD – and lose yourself in the music.

My picks for 2011? Can’t resist a bit of sexy 1940s swing like  In the Mood by Glenn Miller. And Wagner’s Ride Of The Valkyries is THE Classical Sparks crowdpleaser. BOOOOOoOM!

Kia ora. We’ve got a variety of resources for Waitangi Day. Here’s a quick guide:

• The Treaty of Waitangi explores the history of Tiriti o Waitangi in depth.
• Waitangi Day and the Treaty of Waitangi has information on the day itself.
• How to celebrate Waitangi Day gives you some ideas for making it special.
• What Waitangi Day means to me - people including Claudia Orange, Ariana Tikao and former Mayor Garry Moore explain their feelings about Waitangi Day.

Waka launch, Waitangi Day, Okain’s Bay - 1977 (a winner in our Heritage Week competition of 2008)

Waka, Okain’s Bay - Waitangi Day 1977 (an entry in our Heritage Week competition 2008)

While the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in Waitangi on 6 February 1840, signings in the South Island took place in May and June of that year. On 30 May 1840, two Ngāi Tahu chiefs, Iwikau and John Love (Hone Tikao), signed the Treaty of Waitangi at Ōnuku on Akaroa Harbour. The Akaroa area plays a significant role in Treaty history, as it was European involvement in an 1830 raid on the area by Te Rauparaha that led to British intervention and eventually the development of the Treaty.

For a local focus, try:

• Waitangi Day events in Christchurch and Canterbury
• Ōnuku Marae and Takapūneke and their connection with Te Tiriti o Waitangi
• Treaty signings in the South Island

Owen Marshall had looked forward to speaking with him. So had I. He was meant to participate in ‘Poetry for Lunch’, ‘A Tale of Two Cities: Belfast and Glasgow’ and ‘Survivor Poetry’.” But when the Press Christchurch Writers Festival was cancelled, Irish poet and physicist Iggy McGovern came to Christchurch anyway. No 7.1 could stop this super-poet!

“I do like Christchurch,” Iggy commented when I asked him if Christchurch has influenced his writing: 

…it’s just the right size — I had the ultimate pleasure of being recognised when I came into the library! South Island is the only Christchurch poem so far but the 2010 aftershocks are bound to ripple up sometime soon…

Iggy had planned to read from his poetry collection, The King of Suburbia alongside Owen Marshall, among others poets. But what is it like to be both a scientist (a synchroton radiation techniques specialist, to be exact) and a poet?

Certainly Iggy is not the first to combine the forces of science and poetry. Goethe may be the most famous example. There is also Czeck poet and immunologists Miroslav Holub. So, why does poetry and science coalesce in some individuals? What links these seemingly disparate fields? Iggy supports Holub’s idea that poetry and science are ultimately “…about the defense of Truth.”

Read my full interview with Iggy McGovern.

Science is always striving for the one meaning and is ruthless about excluding things that are unsubstantiated… Poetry on the other hand is always striving for different meanings.
Iggy McGovern