Reviews

This section features reviews of events, festivals, film, art, books, music and more.

NEWS:  LATEST REVIEWS UP NOW FROM THE AUCKLAND WRITERS AND READERS FESTIVAL

We hope you enjoy reading these pieces written by our aspiring reviewers. Morph provides opportunities for new writers to develop both their writing skills and their knowledge of the creative community.

Comments or opinions expressed in these reviews and on the website are those of the individual contributors only, and do not necessarily represent the views of Morph Magazine or its community.

An Hour with CK Stead I hadn’t planned on spending an hour in the life of CK Stead. I was idly eavesdropping on someone’s conversation at book club  when they mentioned how much they were looking forward to this event at the Auckland Writers and ... Read more...

What Good Are the Arts William Butler Yeats published the poem 'Sailing to Byzantium‘ in the poetry collection The Tower in 1928. What stands at the centre of this time-honoured piece of poetry is the unswerving belief that art, in all its manifestations, is what ... Read more...

Can the Arts Save the Planet! It is often the event least anticipated that will undoubtedly secure a place at the top of your festival list as ‘thought-provoking’.  I was blown away by the impact the event Can the Arts Save the Planet? had on me. ... Read more...

John Freeman: Shrinking the World At the beginning of this event, John Freeman, related a story of how, Oscar Wilde, when enquiring about the sales of his recent book, sent a telegraph with a singular symbol “?” Wilde’s publisher replied to this telegram with an ... Read more...

An Hour with Lionel Shriver An Hour with Lionel Shriver in conversation with Charlotte Grimshaw Death and So Much More Lionel Shriver is one of the literary superstars of this year’s Auckland Readers and Writers Festival.  Despite her ten novels from 1986 onwards, and a journalistic career ... Read more...

Ben Naparstek: In Conversation Ben Naparstek: In Conversation The interaction between an interviewer and interviewee involves a delicate pattern of linguistic steps bounding backwards and forwards.  Ben Naparstek, editor of Australia’s The Monthly and author of In Conversation: Encounters with Great Writers (2009) established this ... Read more...

Sarah Thornton: Seven Days in the Art World Sarah Thornton: Seven Days in the Art World chaired by Linda Tyler Sarah Thornton is a big ticket author.  In addition to the ubiquitous jug of water which no one ever touches, someone dressed in black lays out two full wine ... Read more...

The New Zealand Listener Opening Night The New Zealand Listener Opening Night of the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival is, without fail, a “moveable feast”.  This year’s collection of writers was no exception. When I first heard the combination of distinguished writers expected to ‘open’ the festival ... Read more...

An Hour with Alison Wong An Hour with Alison Wong chaired by Graham Beattie The Present Past The platform was set up like someone’s idea of a library.  There were two leather chairs sitting on a Persian rug, framed by potted palms.  The rows and rows of ... Read more...

Religion: What is it Good for? Religion: What is it Good for? Remarkably, as Chair Sean Plunket stated, it took the three panellists of Religion: What is it Good for? forty minutes before journalists were blamed for the creation of media silence and the reluctance to discuss ... Read more...

An Hour with Marti Friedlander An Hour With Marti Friedlander chaired by Len Bell Reading the Portrait Marti Friedlander sold out the smallish NZI room, and for good reason.  With a body of work stretching back half a century, her photographs have touched many people’s lives and ... Read more...

Paul Millar: No Fretful Sleeper Paul Millar: No Fretful Sleeper Chaired by Peter Wells One of the wonderful things about the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival (and Auckland Triennial and the public library, come to that) is the opportunity to learn about something new as well ... Read more...

Review: The Desert of Forbidden Art The Desert of Forbidden Art tells the story of the extraordinary Igor Savitsky, prolific collector of Soviet avant-garde art. The film is a sweeping look at the decades of the Soviet repression of the arts, and one man’s pursuit of ... Read more...

Too Cool For School: Campus A Low Hum 2010 My favourite memories from Camp A Low Hum 2009 are as follows: dance party by the swamp, midnight hunt for blackberries and disco in the pine forest. Sounding very weird yet strangely wonderful? Well, fortunately, Campus A Low Hum 2010 ... Read more...

First Thursdays, then what? You would have no excuse for not knowing when this event on Auckland’s art calendar happens. The name says it all really. The newest monthly arts event, First Thursdays started with a hiss and a roar in December, with 900 ... Read more...