Laura Williamson
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Waste not, want
IT ALL STARTED WITH A FIELD FULL OF RUBBISH. IT WAS NEW YEAR’S DAY 2020, AND RUBY URQUHART WAS HELPING WITH THE CLEAN-UP AFTER THE RHYTHM & ALPS MUSIC FESTIVAL, IN THE CARDRONA VALLEY. Scattered amongst the usual post-party detritus (beer cans, vape cartridges, flickering smart phones with shattered screens), there were a heck of
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Those dam Italians
Are Te Anau and the “alternative media” caught in a bad Rome-ance? THERE ARE A LOT OF STRANGE THEORIES CIRCULATING THESE DAYS. STANDOUTS INCLUDE THE RUMOUR THAT NEW ZEALAND IS A NASA HOAX POPULATED BY PAID ACTORS; THAT KEITH RICHARDS IS, IN FACT, JFK; AND THAT REPTILES ARE SECRETLY RUNNING THE WORLD. THE LAST ONE
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In the moment
Can the At the World’s Edge Festival get us hooked on classical? I’VE SEEN CHAMBER MUSIC DESCRIBED AS “A DELICATE, BUT INTENSE, WORLD IN MINIATURE.” I like that, because it not only sums up what this niche of classical music is, but what makes good art. Good art takes big stuff and serves it up
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The collector
Bruce Mahalski has great bone structure. Bruce Mahalski makes art from bone. A sculptor and mural artist, Bruce is probably best known for running the incredible Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery (highlights: the mummified housecat and legendary musician Chris Knox’s painting of the 1977 line-up of his legendary band The Enemy), and for being the
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Where there’s smoke
In praise of the rural fire siren THIS STORY STARTED WITH ONE OF THOSE FACEBOOK COMMUNITY GROUPS. IN BETWEEN THE UN- MICROCHIPPED DOGS, UPCOMING PUB QUIZZES, CARDBOARD BOXES TO GIVE AWAY AND ISOS CASUAL CLEANERS FOR AIRBNBS, A DISCUSSION HAD IGNITED AROUND THE VOLUME OF THE TOWN FIRE SIREN, AND COMPLAINTS ABOUT THEREOF. THE HASHTAG
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Book review: No Other Place to Stand – An Anthology of Climate Change Poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand
Edited by Jordan Hamel, Rebecca Hawkes, Erik Kennedy and Essa Ranapiri (Auckland University Press) Can poetry save us? In No Other Place to Stand, ninety-one writers with connections to Aotearoa New Zealand grapple with the biggest issue on the planet right now, and while the answer isn’t quite yes, it isn’t quite no, either. As
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Poetry Review: Everyone is Everyone Except You and Meat Lovers
Meat Lovers by Rebecca Hawkes (Auckland University Press) Everyone is Everyone Except You by Jordan Hamel (Dead Bird Books) Both of the poets featured in the last issue of 1964 (Issue 9, Autumn 2022) have recently released their debut full-length collections. One word: Yay! Two words: Cows and Timaru! Rebecca Hawkes’ Meat Lovers is “a
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Poetry Review: Everyone is Everyone Except You and Meat Lovers
Meat Lovers by Rebecca Hawkes (Auckland University Press) Everyone is Everyone Except You by Jordan Hamel (Dead Bird Books) Both of the poets featured in the last issue of 1964 (Issue 9, Autumn 2022) have recently released their debut full-length collections. One word: Yay! Two words: Cows and Timaru! Rebecca Hawkes’ Meat Lovers is “a book of poems on
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Goodnight bunnies
Aotearoa New Zealand’s curious connection to a beloved children’s classic. Anyone who has ever lulled children to sleep with the bedtime story Goodnight Moon will not be surprised to hear that its author, Margaret Wise Brown, was an unusual woman. It’s a strange book. There’s a wee bunny in bed in a “great green room”,