From colonial times, Australians and New Zealanders have used railway construction to alter not only their economies and polities but also their environments. Although the consequences of large infrastructure projects are vast, they are often understood poorly. 2021 NLA Fellow, Dr André Brett uses the development of railway networks to interrogate the strong and enduring linkages between economic growth and environmental change. His research seeks to redefine our understanding of how railways affected Australasian landscapes, offering a critical perspective on the outcomes of economic growth and resource use. Australasian literature has interrogated how settlers understood nature, how labourers extracted resources, and which producers used these commodities; it is now time to turn to the crucial transportation stage that links extraction to use. Railways were not simply a means of overcoming what Geoffrey Blainey famously dubbed the tyranny of distance; they were agent
The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending March 12
Bestseller chart
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.
AUCKLAND
1 Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (Faber & Faber, $37)
New Ishiguro! New Ishiguro! It really should be shouted from the rooftops. (As should the fact that he’s appearing via livestream at the Auckland Writers Festival, in May.)
The Nobel Prize and Man Booker winner’s eighth novel is narrated by Klara, an android or “Artificial Friend” bought as a companion for an ill young woman in a strange future version of America. Ishiguro delves back into themes he explored in Never Let Me Go – and yes, it stacks up, and yes, you should read it.
Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2021 longlist announced
27 Jan, 2021 04:00 PM
5 minutes to read
NZ Herald
The longlist for New Zealand s most prestigious book awards has now been released - with more than a dozen first-time authors making the cut.
Books exploring issues of identity, domestic life, war, food, our natural world and our people are among the 40 works of poetry, prose and non-fiction longlisted for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, announced today.
The works were selected from 179 entries, and include 13 first-time authors - which book awards trustee Jenna Todd said was extraordinary .
It was a testament to the vibrancy of the country s literature, she said.