A New Zealand Book Month Q & A (here’s the 2009 version with comments)
Apparently “our literary heroes may never challenge the glory and respect given to our All Blacks” (view the Listener article on this). To which we say “Phhhhhft”.
Who are your literary heroes?
Arohanui to those who have written so eloquently and honesty about the earthquakes.
Writers gave us their Words for Christchurch and poets like Joanna Preston, Fiona Farrell and Tusiata Avia started putting words to the feelings and their words became an intrinsic part of mourning. The words that came to mind for the first anniversary on 22 February 2012 were these that Jan Kemp wrote in i.m. Victims of the Christchurch Earthquake, NZ, 22nd February 2011:
‘Perilous’, precious, this life, these lives, these deaths for which
we now all gather under the sky’s great cloak to mourn.
Writers, journalists and bloggers explored their quakey realities in unflinching ways. Some examples are:
What New Zealand book are you reading? Twelve minutes of love – an autobiographical journey in tango by Kapka Kassabova. I picked it up and all of a sudden it was approaching 11 and I was on page 129. Tango factoid: a cortina is a short piece of non-dance music.
What New Zealand books do you recommend?
Everyone should go graphic with Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks and Kimble Bent Malcontent by Chris Grosz. And it is blooming awesome to see Kimble Bent is nominated in the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards, though I wouldn’t have thought of it as a kids book. More of an illustrated New Zealand history with lots of blood and guts.
Who are your picks?
Christchurch City Libraries Blog 