Tim Jones's Blog, page 65

Go You Good Things: Several Congratulations and a Writing Workshop

Congratulations

Congratulations are in order: plenty of them. If I've forgotten someone who deserves congratulations, please let us all know in the comments!

So, congratulations to:

All the poets whose poems are included in Best New Zealand Poems 2008 - I was especially pleased to see poems by Emma Barnes, Emma Neale and Tim Upperton included.Iain Britton, whose new book of poetry Liquefaction is being published by Interactive Publications (who are also publishing Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry f

The Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors: Getting Paid for Copies of Your Books in New Zealand Libraries

Are you a New Zealand author? If so, did you know that you can be paid for each copy of your books that are held by New Zealand public libraries - as long as the books meet certain criteria, and provided you apply? You can, by applying under the new Public Lending Right.

The most important of the criteria is that there have to be 50 copies of your book in New Zealand public libraries (which do not include school libraries) for it to qualify. Unfortunately, this isn't cumulative - if you have had

Graphic Novels, Comics, and Me

The book group I'm a member of had a good time a couple of nights ago discussing graphic novels - a discussion that somehow morphed into the proposal that we should put on a play (possibly improvised on the spot) at our next meeting.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, whose work I first got to know through her excellent Dykes To Watch Out For comic strips, was the book officially under discussion. We have our best discussions when there's a range of opinions about the book in question - as there was thi

All Blacks' Kitchen Gardens Reprinted / First Light

All Blacks' Kitchen Gardens, my poetry collection published in 2007, has been reprinted: a small reprint, but still, it's good to be in a position to do so.

In case you've yet to sample its delights, you can:

check out the All Blacks' Kitchen Gardens page on my web site for the blurb, review quotes, and details of the contents;
take a look at John Girdlestone's marvellous cover design for the book (above) - see the left-hand column for the final version of the cover, with Mark Pirie's lettering; an

Voyagers Cover Released, Microsite Up

Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand, the anthology of New Zealand science fiction poetry Mark Pirie and I have co-edited, is moving closer to its publication date: we expect it to be available in New Zealand on 1 June.

The publishers, Interactive Publications Ltd (IP) of Brisbane, have now put up both a mini-site and an orders page for the book:

The IP mini-site is now up at: http://ipoz.biz/Titles/Voy.htm

The IP Orders page is: http://ipoz.biz/Store/orders.htm

And here's the cover. (V

SFFANZ Press Release: Finalists for the 2009 Sir Julius Vogel Awards Announced - Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Authors Nominated

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand is pleased to announce its list of finalists for the 2009 Sir Julius Vogel Awards celebrating consumer choice and excellence in science fiction, fantasy and horror. Eligible works are from the 2008 calendar year.

Christchurch author Helen Lowe, author of “Thornspell”, is one of the finalists in the category of “Young Adult Novel”. Other finalists in this category are Ella West for “Anywhere But Here”, Fleur Beale for “Juno of Taris”, Ma

Reading Poetry at Madras Cafe Books in Christchurch (feat. North)

Last night, I was a guest reader, together with Fiona Farrell and Victoria Broome, at the first weekly session of the Canterbury Poets' Collective Autumn Readings Series at Madras Cafe Books in Christchurch.

I had a terrible cold, but a good time. I was going to post a full and judicious report, but I discovered tonight that Catherine of Still Standing on her Head had got there before me, so I am going to recommend that you read her excellent report. I'll just throw in a few additional comments:

I

Enamel: The First Issue of a New Literary Journal

Emma Barnes, in addition to being a fine poet herself, is the editor of the new literary journal Enamel. The first issue of Enamel has just been published, and I'm pleased to say that I have two poems in it: "The Penciller" and "Nightlife".

Emma starts her editorial by saying:

When I decided to start Enamel I naively placed the word pro-feminist in my call for submissions. At the time of writing I phrased it as a slight bias toward pro-feminist literature. Little did I know that this would cause a

Reclaiming Gravity: The Birth of a New Zealand Writers' Association

This is a guest post by Regina Ripley Patton. Ripley Patton lives mostly in her head but occasionally comes out to enjoy the scenery of the remote hills of the South Island that rise around her home. She writes speculative fiction because truth has always fascinated her more than fact. Her work has appeared in AlienSkin, Quantum Muse, The Lorelei Signal, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Flash Fiction Online, Reflection's Edge, and the new Wily Writers website for Speculative Fiction Dow

An Interview with Sue Emms

[image error] Sue Emms is the fiction editor of Bravado magazine, and also a novelist and author of short fiction. She made a big splash with her first novel, Parrot Parfait, and subsequently published her second novel, Come Yesterday. I interviewed her recently about her past and current writing, her plans for the future, and the bubbling literary scene in Tauranga.

You've had two novels published to a good response, Parrot Parfait and Come Yesterday; you had a story included in The Best New Zealand Fiction: