"Oddly enough I find these public kerfuffles ...

2009-11-20T18:18:45.707-08:00

"Oddly enough I find these public kerfuffles quite heartening. Literature is so often almost invisible in New Zealand."

Well said, Peter! I hadn't looked at it like that, but it's unfortunately true. Hmmm, so we just need to start inventing some scandals every couple of months to keep things alive and well.

This morning CK Stead was on the radio saying he f...

2009-11-18T12:37:07.793-08:00

This morning CK Stead was on the radio saying he felt Witi had damaged his credibility, which is no small thing for an author. The news that Witi and Penguin are withdrawing/buying back stock was number two on the national radio this morning. And on Nine to Noon, the highly popular National Radio morning show, one of the interviews today is Elizabeth Knox saying she 'cried for three days' after seeing Niki Caro's film version of her novel, 'The Vintner's Luck'.
Oddly enough I find these public kerfuffles quite heartening. Literature is so often almost invisible in New Zealand. The national book awards get less attention than the best beer competition, as Nigel Cox once ironically said. Books and literature are seen as prim, faded, marginal and as important as a drink coaster left behind in a closed down tavern. So I feel oddly happy that 'art has hit the headlines' and that for once books and book people can be as shocking, tacky, mendacious and self serving as everyone else in the contemporary media. A little public weeping and venting is good.

Comments on peterwellsblog.: All at sea and feeling nauseous...

"Oddly enough I find these public kerfuffles ...

This morning CK Stead was on the radio saying he f...