6 Comments
User's avatar
Saige's avatar

Tēnā rawa atu koe, thank you Jordan for an insightful reflective consideration of this collection. I have long admired Tina Makeriti and will continue to read her creative works.

I liked that you said this: 'a sprawling essay collection that’s far-reaching enough get a little messy and genuinely introspective.'

The commercial pressure on writers to reach a market and entertain the market is, well, commercial and commercial imperatives constrain free-range thought. The chickens can never come home to roost if they are confined in a battery shed with artificial light.

I, for one, (and I hope I'm one among many) demand that writers take risks; that they grope through the darkness rather than turning on the artificial light. I like the journey to reach the dawn. (As I write those wild geese are calling as they come down from the mountains, scraping their sound over the wetlands and up to the moon).

I will keep reading this author, just as I will keep reading your finely wrought reflections on Māori literature, a rich field of work.

Expand full comment
Jordan | Māori Literature Blog's avatar

Very well put, and I absolutely agree! So often my favourite books are imperfect, or don't entirely satisfy me in some way - simply because they're the ones I keep thinking about. They're also the best to write about, I think.

Very curious to see where Tina takes her work from here, especially coming off The Mires.

Expand full comment
Jane Poata's avatar

I haven't read this one, and didn't persevere with The Mires. However, in I've just read Lawrence Patchett's The Burning River 2019 which I was really impressed by. Have you reviewed it at all?

Expand full comment
Jordan | Māori Literature Blog's avatar

Have not read it, but it sounds interesting! I'm always interested in local speculative fiction, and this sounds like a good one. Will have to seek it out!

Expand full comment
Saige's avatar

If you haven't read Elif Shafak I would recommend her too Jordan. 'There Are Rivers In The Sky' is her latest. Not speculative, but traverses history through a drop of water. I love her, I mean literally, I love her - her thoughts on writing, her thoughts on life, and of course, her writing. I wonder if the essence is essential to this, that the person, the writer is groping for meaning.

Expand full comment
Jordan | Māori Literature Blog's avatar

Love this description, and will be sure to add her to my to-read list!

Expand full comment