THE GROOVE BOOK REPORT

Authors and publishers fear a bill that makes it easier for disabled people to access their work will mean they won't get paid for it. The Marrakesh Treaty, which New Zealand agreed to sign in 2017, lets more organisations convert books into Braille, large print or audio - making it quicker and easier for people with a print disability to access. And while no one is opposed to that, there are concerns about the way the Treaty is set to become law here. The World Interlectual Property Organisation (WIPO) administers the Marrakesh Treaty, which  makes the production and international transfer of specially-adapted books for people with blindness or visual impairments easier. It does this by establishing a set of limitations and exceptions to traditional copyright law. The Treaty was signed in Marrakesh on June 27, 2013, and came into force on September 30, 2016. The Treaty aims to help people who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled have access to boo...

One of New Zealand’s best-loved writers, Dame Joy Cowley is a finalist in this year’s Ashton Wylie Mind Body Spirit Literary Awards’ Book category for her non-fiction work  Veil Over Light . She joins four other authors from all over the country writing about issues as wide-ranging as global ethics, living cooperatively, mystical and shamanic practise and Māori healing wisdom. The Awards’ convenor of judges Joan Rosier-Jones says this year’s Book category entrants were particularly strong.  “It was a difficult decision deciding on a shortlist of five from 42 book entries, many from household name writers.  This year’s finalists were selected for their understanding of the Mind Body Spirit genre, the compelling and accessible way they each convey their stories and their books’ excellent production values. Each of these books are worthy winners and hold much wisdom for our world”.   The 2019 Mind Body Spirit Literary Awards Book category finali...

Witi Ihimaera and co-editor Whiti Hereaka have produced an incredibly wide-ranging anthology of reinterpretated Māori myths where old stories are retold, ancient themes revitalised, and new voices have rework well known and lesser known stories that stretch back to eternity. These myths never die because they remain in the weave of culture, even when we don't really understand where they came from or what the original purpose was. Lately, there's been a bit of a revival of mythlogy.  Stephen Fry has brought back a more digestable version of Greek myths, the mainstay of Western science and society. Neil Gaiman has blended Norse Mythology into his twisted fiction.  So why not do something similar with our own taonga? This book is a collection of pre-existing versions and newly commissioned works.  400 pages, its comprehensive, reshaping characters and stories from Māori oral culture into a literary package suitable for a new world.  Having said that, with ...

Gardiner’s book tells a powerful and quite often painful picture of the tāne of B Company 28 Māori Battalion, from its earliest beginings in October 1939, right through to the demobilisation of the unit in January 1946. He provides outstanding historic context to how an, more importanty, why there was such active involvement of Māori in the NZ Army. He starts by pointing back to the Māori Pioneer Battalion, which have not been well recorded by history. Many will not know that they sailed with the 1st New Zealand Expeditionary force (WW1) and not only fought but served with distinction at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. When we look back, through the eyes of historians, movies or evenPeter Jackson's reconstructions, we never see this very much overlooked fact. Gardnier's research is deep and thorough, providing a detailed account of the national and intra-Māori politics that shaped the founding of 28 Maori Battalion, and, interestingly, the decision by Māori that ...