Helen Lowe's Blog, page 246
September 15, 2012
A View From Here: From The Writer’s Study
On Thursday, I posted on the latest and 5th instalment of the The Aotearoa Blog Carnival,which is part of celebrating New Zealand literature and letters as part of New Zealand being the official guest country at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year.
The theme for the fifth instalment of the The Aotearoa Blog Carnival is “A View From Here” and reflecting on the theme, I did feel there were so many slants and angles into it. On Thursday, I also said that I intended to develop the post into four vie...
September 14, 2012
The Very Last Day of Women on Air
Ruth Todd, producing Women on Air for 20 years
Today from 10.00 am-12.00 noon, after twenty years—twenty years!—will be the very last show for Women of Air, on Plains 96.9 FM.
I must admit I feel incredibly sad, not only because I have been doing “books’n'writer” interviews for the show for the past six years, but because I think it’s a great loss for Christchurch women, to have their dedicated voice “on air” fall silent.
But really, today is all about Ruth Todd and Morrin Rout who have been pro...
September 13, 2012
What I’m Doing… More on “Daughter of Blood, The Wall of Night Book Three”
Back to properly “bookish” ( 
) posts today—and I’m very pleased to say that the weather has improved since I posted on this same topic on Wednesday, here. Hail, sleet and cold has given way to bright sunshine, although the wind was still more than a little chilly when I snuck out for my consitutional yesterday.
(Are any of you “…on Anything, Really” readers Deadwood fans? If yes, then you may “get it” when I say that the constitutional, on a day of sunshine but cold wind, doesn’t get beyond a...
September 12, 2012
A View From Here: A View From Christchurch
This year, New Zealand is the official guest country at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The Aotearoa Blog Carnival is part of celebrating this focus on New Zealand literature and letters, and the theme for the fifth instalment is “A View From Here.” Reflecting on the theme, I felt there were so many slants and angles into it—and I did intend to develop the post ito four views, from the micro to the macro, centered on being a writer living in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The four perspectives were to be...
September 11, 2012
What I’m Doing… “Daughter of Blood, The Wall of Night Book Three”
Magnolia stellata
It is now officially spring here, as my posts of September 1 and 9, here, attest—but those posts were all about the ‘balmy’ and the ‘mild’ and the spring flowers, whereas spring, as you probably well know, is also the most changeable of seasons–so yesterday, the mild (warm) norwesters were banished by the southerly, blowing in from the Antarctic and bringing snow to many regions and hail showers to Christchurch. Which was ok, as it turned out, because the power stayed on (by...
September 10, 2012
Tuesday Poem: “Re-vision” by Karen Zelas
There is a moment, somewhere, when I see you.
Truly see you. A gift.
…………………………………. Before a glass, a Renaissance self-
portrait. Maybe in a courtyard, a Gothic arch
Or by a Roman column: unruly curls snaking,
your father’s smile. Sicilian sun.
………………………………………………….A fishing harbour,
gulls rising through blue, many steps, and you
carry my burden. Ionian light and Jason searching
for himself. ………………………A spear
of light in a dark atrium; you sparkle. The trickle
of water.
………………………………………………….T...
September 9, 2012
Book Review: “Redshirts” by John Scalzi
On August 2, I introduced my first “…on Anything, Really” book review by guest reviewer, Andrew Robins — in that case of Kim Stanley Robinson’s “2312.”
Today Andrew is reviewing John Scalzi’s “Redshirts.”
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Review: “Redshirts” (TOR, 2012; 314 pp) by John Scalzi
by Andrew Robins
On one level Redshirts is a relatively straightforward vehicle for a clever idea. If you are a fan of classic Star Trek or other shows in the genre, you will “get” this book and have an enjoyable read.
In jokes abound. Scalz...
September 8, 2012
Some More Spring Photos
Having been discussing Wordsworth’s Daffodils, here and here, and posting last weekend’s daffodil array from my garden, I thought I’d share a few more photos in the interests of spring garden interest, diversity, and —to quote the politicians —”equal time.”
Magnolia stellata
Hellebores
Wattle in flower
"Matchsticks"
September 7, 2012
A Codicil On True Confessions Of A Writer
William Wordsworth; Portrait by B.R. Haydon
On Thursday I posted a “true confession” as a writer, here, in which I discussed my very first piece of fan fiction: an eight-year-old’s riff on William Wordsworth’s “Daffodils.”
I also noted that, given I was living in tropical Singapore at the time (where daffodils do not occur naturally): “…both my reading of William Wordsworth’s Daffodils and my unshamedly derivative response to the poem were both works of complete imagination—which I personally f...
September 6, 2012
What’s Happening…
If you’re within the zone for Plains 96.9FM, listen out at 11.20 am tomorrow, Saturday 8, for my interview with Rhian Gallagher, who recently won the NZ Post Book Award 2012 for Poetry, for her collection Shift.
We’ll be talking about Rhian’s win, Shift, andher poetry generally in the interview. It’s a really thoughtful interview from Rhian, so do listen if you can. But if you can’t hear it live, then I’ll link here once the podcast is up, so all should not be lost.
I also featured the NZ Post...
