The Love School

[The Lumière Reader, the online NZ arts journal that took me on as a book reviewer, is scrapping most of its books section to become a film-centric publication. I'm yoinking my first major review from their old site before it gets banished to archivedom. Later I'll write about how I ended up meeting and interviewing this particular author in Wellington.]


For me, reading New Zealand literature is as much a therapy for culture shock as anything else. I moved here from America three years ago, and since then I’ve been looking for local writers – particularly women writers – who can help me figure out what I’ve signed up for. My first project, predictably, was Katherine Mansfield. Last summer it was Elizabeth Knox.

Knox’s latest book, The Love School, was an interesting place to start. It’s a collection of essays, talks, and other non-fictional writing that spans twenty years of her life and career. Reading the book is like having a good long rummage through her notebooks, letters, and snapshots, discovering the memories and experiences that go into novels like After Z-Hour and Dreamhunter. There’s a lot of things to explore here – not just for long-time fans of her work, but for anyone with an interest in writing and New Zealand perspectives.

Yank Abroad

“Don’t you ever read the front page?” a colleague asked me recently.

We were in the office kitchen, and I’d just pounced on the “World” section of the newspaper so I could read about Afghanistan and the American healthcare debate during morning tea. And she’s right, I usually skip the front page – you know, the news from New Zealand, which is where I live and all.