![]() “When Pasifika people interact socially at informal and formal events,” she writes, “it’s guaranteed that food will be the marker of the success of that interaction.” But, really, when you think about it, isn’t food also the marker of social success whenever New Zealanders of any ethnicity gather? Firestone goes on to turn in a lot of valuable insights about obesity issues within her own community. Not surprisingly, identity politics is earnestly to the fore, too, sometimes with a bit of needless strain – as, for instance, with Ridvan Firestone pressing into service the bawdy old equation of culture and food. ![]() All of them are good, in fact, even if a couple of lighter pieces here wouldn’t have gone amiss. And Jarod Gilbert, one of the few non-Massey scholars, is sensationally good on the jejunely mindless debate that typically sullies our country’s public conversation about crime and punishment. Environmental concerns of one sort or another are the focus of several other eggheads. Claire Robinson, a professor of communication design, homes in on older women showing off their hard-earned sagacity by celebrating their shades of gray. On the other side of the coin, the political scientist Richard Shaw riffs on the apathy of young voters. At times, Slack flirts with being the drudge in the garret who uses the passing of a golden age to accent his own high principle, but, mostly, it’s a supple example of the popular style. ![]() Thus, the pundit David Slack, melancholically observing his glide into the 50s, casts an eye in the rear-view, sorrowing over lost dreams, the graceful descent of his parents into old age and, a touch oddly, the fiscal rectitude of Singapore. ![]() The journal weaves together 20 “whip-smart” pieces by the likes of established downtown voices, alongside a coterie of hopefully cool academics whose ideas might play out just as well at the local bookstore as they do in the faculty lounge. On Legat’s watch, the Massey University Press has also been undergoing a period of expansion – it recently partnered with Te Papa Press – as it looks to cut a bigger presence in a university field until recently dominated by Victoria and Auckland, with the fierce urgency of now. Besides, this is intended to be a journal in the academic sense, too “republish or perish” isn’t really a scholarly option. Its editor, Nicola Legat, a one-time magazine chief turned publishing executive, has never been much into recycling old rope. The Journal of Urgent Writing plumps for the latter. And one is also certainly booked for an argument with Bob or Belinda from accounts, over whether to take the more cost-efficient route of trawling material that has already seen the light of published day, or commissioning new work from scratch. A challenging task in the most sophisticated international markets, it becomes a headache of the first order in New Zealand, where the form arrived relatively late and may yet, in these cash-strapped mainstream media times, depart early. Yet, at the top of my list would be commandeering a collection of halfway decent New Zealand essays – long-form journalism, enduring non-fiction, creative piecework, call them what you will – for general consumption. All such jobs can be a drag: they are stressful and frustrating and too often end in failure. If I had to name the publishing roles I would hate to hold, the list would go on for a long time. Susanna Andrew and Jolisa Gracewood (eds) Tell You What 2017: Great New Zealand Nonfiction
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |