Writing from the Cathedrals of the Imagination

"Writing a novel is not merely going in a shopping expedition across the border to an unreal land: it is hours and years spent in the factories, the streets, the cathedrals of the imagination."
Janet Frame

What a great thought. The imagery of the cathedrals of the imagination is very evocative. Frame, in fact, spent many years living in her imaginary world.

Cat Connor - Thriller writer

I have just discovered a NZ author called Cat Connor. Her books are excellent and mix computers, poetry, the FBI, love, life and serial killers. The books are fast paced full of surprises.

The herone, main character is a Senior Special Agent in the FBI and over the books we follow her progress.

Gripping and compulsive reading.

Some of her books are:

Killerbyte

Terrorbyte

Exacerbyte

and

Flashbyte

DK

DK's Top Traffic Exchanges

Words Chosen Carefully

In a recent post I mentioned a book that interviewed 12 New Zealand poets in 1985. I was wondering then what the same people would think now after 27 years. On Saturday I went to the library and found a book that answers the questions for several of the original poets.

The book is titled Words Chosen Carefully - New Zealand writers in discussion and is edited by Siobhan Harvey with photography by Liz March. Elizabeth Smither and C.K.Stead are in both books and one can see the development of their thoughts and observations on craft and the place of the writer in a New Zealand context.

In 1985 New Zealand still had a degree of cultural cringe and preferred literature from overseas, which was a reflection of the country's colonial past. In this post colonial and post modern world NZ writing is coming of age.

While this book of literary discussions is centered on New Zealand many of the observations equally apply to any country that has been colonized in he past.

DK

Talking about Ourselves

I am reading an interesting book called Talking about Ourselves - Twelve New Zealand Poets. This book written in 1985 was based on conversations with Harry Ricketts, a British academic who teaches in New Zealand.

The 12 poets chosen cover a range of ages, stages and includes an interview with Fleur Adcock who sees herself as an expatriate as she has now spent a large part of her life in the United Kingdom.

The fact that this book was written nearly 30 years ago doesn't detract from its content. I must admit that I would like to see the poets still alive answer the questions again. While the book covers New Zealand poetry the themes are relevant internationally. Questions about local, regional, national and international poetry and influences are of particular note.

Ode to a Bookshop

Seated in a comfy sofa
Regarding the shelves before me
Books everywhere
Topics History America
History of Things
United Nations.

Lovely baroque
Music unobstrusive
In the background
A literary feast
Accompanied
By the Brandenburg
Concertoes.

The chosen books
Beside me on the arm
Of the floral easy sofa
The Common Place book
Talking about Ourselves
Spark to a Waiting Fuse
Under the Bridge and
Over the Moon
And last but not least
New Zealand Poetry Yearbook 1955
The year of my nativity.

Smither, ricketts
Baxter and Ginn
Ireland and a rabble
Rouse of Kiwi bards.

Fathers Day - another Book

Isn't Fathers Day great. I got a book called, Our Favourite Poems, New Zealanders choose their best-loved poems. The book contains 100 of New Zealand's favourite poems, chosen from all over the world and voted for in a nationwide poll. As the blurb says,

These are poems that New Zealanders genuinely treasure, both high-brow and popular, traditional and contemporary, and while this anthology is firmly rooted in NZ, it retains a strong international flavour.

I will share one stanza from my favourite NZ Poem by James.K. Baxter:

POEM IN THE MATUKITUKI VALLEY

Some few yards from the hut the standing beeches
Let fall their dead limbs,overgrown
With feathered moss and filigree of bracken.
The rotted wood splits clean and hard
Close-grained to the driven axe, with sound of water
Sibilant falling and high nested birds.

All you fathers out there have a great day.

Ciao

DK

A Trip to the Book Shop

This morning I woke up early and headed off to the bookshop. I was keen to purchase a copy of the biography of Professor J Beaglehole, the late eminent New Zealand historian, written by his son, Tim Beaglehole, another eminent historian. Luckily for me the bookshop (Wadsworths in New Plymouth - thank you Julie) had it as I was having trouble tracking it down!! And I got it $7 cheaper than it was selling for online at Fishpond. I am not meant to be visiting bookshops at the moment but I just can't help it. I have told my wife and she didn't explode at me, as happens sometimes. Happy reading one and all. DK