Waiharakeke School Visits 2019

Ngā mihi o te tau hou Pākehā!

Late last year I visited several schools in the Waiharakeke/Blenheim and Kaikoura districts to talk about The Adventures of Tupaia book. Schools visited were: Rapaura, Grovetown, Spring Creek, Blenheim, Tua Marina, Mayfield, Ward, and Kaikoura High. Pictured above are me and the children of Blenheim Primary, taken by a reporter from The Blenheim Sun. Not pictured: the rain (the kids weren’t bothered).

Despite it being a bit out of my comfort zone I had an awesome time. Many thanks to all involved, not least the kids themselves who were delightful, and asked some pretty sharp, and not a few tough questions.

Yeah, I’d do it again.

Tupaia reviews round-up.

Tupaia Story Labels 6

Tēnā anō tātou,

here’s a quick collection of the reviews available online for The Adventures Of Tupaia.

A lovely one here from Paula Green at NZPoetryBox.

Briar Lawry reviews it at The Sapling.

More kind words at What Book Next and The Reading Warrior.

Then there’s this here from Canvas Magazine 14/7/19:

“A spectacular hardback published in partnership with Auckland Museum to accompany the Tupaia exhibition (now on), this follows the story of Tupaia from his childhood in Ra’iatea to becoming a highranking ’arioi and master navigator who sailed with Captain James Cook as part of the crew on the Endeavour. Meredith and Tait incorporate a range of styles in this evocatively illustrated work, which adds nuance to the story of how Europeans put Aotearoa on their maps. It’s a story that should be read in all New Zealand primary schools.”

Heoi anō, kāore te kumara e kōrero mō tōna ake reka…

Tupaia interviews round-up.

Aotearoa Section Intro

Ngā mihi tātou,

here’re a few links to recent interviews Courtney Sina Meredith and I have done in the wake of the release of our new book, The Adventures Of Tupaia.

At the Sapling, I talk to Becky Popham.

At the Spinoff, Courtney talks to Gareth Shute.

Courtney talks to Jesse Mulligan and crew at The Project (pretty sweet introductory animation to kick it off), and I speak to him on Radio New Zealand.

Kua mutu mō te wā nei, further posts will come if anything else interesting pops up.

The Adventures Of Tupaia

 

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Ngā mihi manahau e hoa mā!

The book I have been working on for the last little while has finally been released into the wild. Written by Courtney Sina Meredith with illustrations by myself, it’s called The Adventures of Tupaia and is published by Allen and Unwin. It tells the story of Tupaia, the Tahitian navigator-priest who travelled with Cpt Cook on the Endeavour to Aotearoa and offers a unique perspective on the events, while helping to bring into the light the neglected story of this fascinating man and his part in our history.

Here’s a link to book info on the Allen and Unwin site, and here’s a pretty cool trailer for the book.

More news to come!

Book news round-up 1.

In the interests of posting efficiency, here’s a collection of recent news/reviews &c. related to The Heading Dog Who Split In Half.

Reviews.

The Tearoom of Despair.

Booksellers NZ.

Otago Daily Times.

Hugin & Munin (in French).

Radio New Zealand (audio), via Adrian Kinnaird and Bryan Crump.

Interviews.

Radio New Zealand (audio), via Lynn Freeman on Standing Room Only. Oddly but pleasingly accompanied by a gallery of paintings by Jeffrey Harris.

Heoi anō mō te wā nei.

Armageddon is nigh.

RRpage2bI will be signing copies of ‘The Heading Dog Who Split in Half’ at Armageddon next weekend (24th and 25th of October), so if you’re in Auckland and fancy your copy personally vandalised, come on down. I’ll be sharing a table with the fine folk from Earth’s End, who’ll have some great books to sell themselves, including a new edition of an old classic: Terry and the Gunrunners.  Hope to see you there!

The Heading Dog Who Split In Half.

heading-dog-cvr-72ppiSo I’ve mentioned this book elsewhere on the site, but the pub. date is approaching quickly, and it’s time to run up a flag.

My friend Mike Brown and I have produced this book see? It’s called The Heading Dog Who Split In Half: Legends and Tall Tales From New Zealand and it’s a collection of local stories we think are interesting, or important, or revealing, and deserve to be more widely known. I think I can safely say that all of them, in one way or another, have struck a personal chord with us. We hope that they will with the reader as well; that they’ll start conversations, help to recall other stories, and not least, be entertaining.

The book is being published by Potton & Burton, top notch producer of quality NZ books, and will be available in shops in late October 2015. You can pre-order it here, but since you’re smart and discerning, before you do that you should head over to The Old, Weird New Zealand for more info on the book, a bunch of artwork, some ramblings, and more. Kia tere!

And stay tuned.