Helen Lowe's Blog, page 250
August 7, 2012
Two Interesting Articles
Or to be specific, links to articles that have interested me in the past week.
Separate and Unequal, A Review of “The Price of Inequality” by Joseph E Stiglitz
The first one is a book review that appeared in the New York Times last week: “Separate and Unequal: ‘The Price of Inequality’ by Joseph E Stiglitz. Stiglitz is a is a Nobel laureate and a professor of economics at Columbia University. The review is by Thomas B. Edsall, the Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore professor at the Col...
August 6, 2012
Tuesday Poem: “Juice of Nelson Haven” by Helen McKinlay
Juice of Nelson Haven
At the vineyard
the cool dudes gather
let the waves of wine
flick and swill
across their palates
erasing past memories
‘stunning nose
crisp, young and fresh
definitely fruit driven.’
At the Boulder Bank
the cool crabs gather
as the tide
flicks and swills their palates
erases muddied memories
‘stunning nose
undertones of treated poo
and goggle-eyed
deep sea
fish.’
(c) Helen McKinlay
Reproduced here with permission.
—
About the Poem: The Poet’s Note
Image courtesy of Nelson City
In summer 2009-10,...
August 5, 2012
A Guest Post by Rowena Cory Daniells: “Fantasy, the Poor Cousin of Science Fiction”
Introduction:
I have been hearing the name of Rowena Cory Daniells for some time now, as one of the exciting new authors of speculative fiction to emerge out of Australia over the past few years. The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin was released in 2010. Her new trilogy The Outcast Chronicles (Solaris) is being published in August, September and October of this year.
But Rowena is no newcomer to speculative fiction: she has been actively involved since 1976 when she jointly set up small press pub...
August 4, 2012
Yesterday & Tomorrow…
Christchurch SpecFicNZ-ers, plus award bling 
Yesterday we had the first SpecFicNZ meetup we’ve managed in Christchurch for quite some time in the post-earthquake ethos of generally disrupted lives, and certainly significantly fewer places where it’s possible to hang out and have fun.
So it was good just to get together and talk about what we all love—speculative fiction (SF/Fantasy/Horror) in all its forms, including writing it which we all do. We also took the opportunity to celebrate some C...
August 3, 2012
NZ Post Book Award for Poetry 2012: Rhian Gallagher and “Shift”
On Wednesday, I was absolutely delighted to learn that my friend and fellow poet Rhian Gallagher had won the NZ Post Book Award for Poetry 2012 for her collection Shift, published in 2011 by Auckland University Press.
You can read the official announcement for all the winners on the BooksellersNZ site, here:
And here’s what the citation said:
“The poems offer elegance, mysteriousness, musical harmonies, satisfying quietness and subtle emotions. Sounds and themes stitch the collection with an ass...
August 2, 2012
“All About… The Awesomeness of Story” — Check It Out On the Supernatural Underground
Right now I have a guest post up on the Supernatural Underground titled — yup, you got it 
— “All About… The Awesomeness of Story.”
It ranges over a reasonable degree of territory, but at heart it’s about how I stay in touch with the magic of storytelling when I’m smack bang in the middle of the “long distance endurance event” (note the Olympics analogy, please) that is writing a novel.
So if you’re interested in the writing life as well as reading the end product then this post may be of inter...
August 1, 2012
Book Review: “2312″ by Kim Stanley Robinson
Today I would like to introduce my first book review for “…on Anything, Really” by a guest reviewer.
The book reviewed is Kim Stanley Robinson’s science fiction novel “2312″; the reviewer is Andrew Robins, whose bio appears below the review.
I hope it will be the first of many reviews by both Andrew and other guest reviewers as let’s face it: the world needs more book reviews and book features!
—
Review: “2312″ (Orbit 2012; 561 pp) by Kim Stanley Robinson
by Andrew Robins
This book deceived me. It...
July 31, 2012
What’s Coming Up
Firstly, I’ve got some exciting stuff coming here on the blog over the next week, including:
Tomorrow I’ll be posting a review of Kim Stanley Robinson’s “2312″ by guest reviewer Andrew Robins. I am quite excited about this as it is the first every guest review on my blog; so, a milestone.Next Monday, I will have a guest post by SFF author Rowena Cory Daniells on “Fantasy, The Poor Cousin of Science Fiction” featured—am fascinated by the topic and can’t wait to see what she has to say!
And some...
July 30, 2012
Tuesday Poem: “Desert Bloom” by Ciarán Fox
Desert Bloom
a desert blooms in you
sands the colour of rust
run through the surgeon’s hands
there are no more
thorns in your garden
but moisture has no place to go
you open your floodgates
but all that comes to your
cupped hands, tumbling
like dry petals from your strange,
unlooked-for rose
pot-pourri tears
little pieces of paper with the words
“cancer”
…………………….“fear”
…………………………………….“pain”
a desert bloom, in you
sands the colour of rust
etch roses in your hourglass
.
© Ciarán Fox
Reproduced here with permission....
July 29, 2012
What I’m Reading: “Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion” by Anne Somerset
It’s been a while since I’ve read some non-fiction history so I was very pleased to be able to pick up “Queen Anne, The Politics of Passion” (Harper Press), Anne Somerset’s biography of Queen Anne (Life: 1665 – 1714; Reign: 1702-1714.)
So far I am about a third of the way through and really enjoying it. This is serious biography so not a light read, but Somerset writes well, incorporating detailed research into a highly readable account of the life and times of Queen Anne, the last Stuart mona...
