Canterbury University Press (104)

Pay Dirt

ISBN: 9781927145753

Author: Hilary Low    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

‘Pay Dirt: ‘The Westland Goldfields’, from the diary of William Smart’ is the fascinating story of how payable gold was discovered in West Canterbury, a...


‘Pay Dirt: ‘The Westland Goldfields’, from the diary of William Smart’ is the fascinating story of how payable gold was discovered in West Canterbury, and of claims to the government’s rich gold reward. It tells how English settler, William Smart, left Christchurch in 1862 to prospect for gold in the uncharted wilderness of the West Coast. Then, in 1887, long after the Canterbury government granted another prospector the reward, which Smart regarded as rightfully his, he was provoked to write his own ‘history’ of the early gold discoveries. ‘The Westland Goldfields’ was his attempt to set the record straight; but, incidentally, he produced a unique eye-witness account of early Pākehā on the Coast, prospecting alongside Māori, braving the hazardous environment, isolation and ever-present risk of starvation – before the region was overwhelmed by the gold rushes of the 1860s. Smart’s account, together with his drawings, is published here for the first time. Hilary Low has done a superb job of presenting Smart’s manuscript, and complementing it with a lively commentary on Canterbury’s quest for its own goldfield, and the extraordinary saga of its gold reward – a tale of hope and persistence, lies and fraud.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 160


Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm


Publication Date: 17-10-2016


Tags: History   New Zealand
$39.99
Fish Stories

ISBN: 9781927145661

Author: Mary Cresswell    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

Mary Cresswell is at her imaginative best in this new collection, built from her experiments with the ghazal, a traditional form, which she first met via the wo...


Mary Cresswell is at her imaginative best in this new collection, built from her experiments with the ghazal, a traditional form, which she first met via the work of Agha Shahid Ali and Mimi Khalvati. The poems in ‘Fish Stories’ are presented as an intellectual challenge to students of the ghazal and glosa forms, encouraging them to develop their own craft. At the same time, Cresswell’s poetry is widely accessible and appealing: using rhyme and varying poetic structures, inspired by a range of topics, but especially by nature and ecology, she combines humour with serious comment to engage and connect with her reader.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 132


Dimensions: 140 x 200 mm


Publication Date: 20-05-2015


$25.00
Six-Legged Ghosts : The Insects of Aotearoa

ISBN: 9781988503431

Author: Lily Duval    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

Why isn’t Aotearoa famous for its insects? We have wētā that can survive being frozen, weevils with ‘snouts’ almost as long as their bodies, and the wor...


Why isn’t Aotearoa famous for its insects? We have wētā that can survive being frozen, weevils with ‘snouts’ almost as long as their bodies, and the world’s only alpine cicadas. There is mounting evidence that insect numbers are plummeting all over the world. But the insect apocalypse isn’t just a faraway problem – it’s also happening here in Aotearoa. In recent years, we have lost a number of our native insects to extinction and many more are teetering on the brink. Without insects, the world is in trouble. Insects are our pollinators, waste removers and ecosystem engineers – they are vital for a healthy planet. So why don’t more people care about the fate of the tiny but mighty six-legged beings that shape our world? Richly illustrated, and including more than 100 original paintings by the author, Six-legged Ghosts: The insects of Aotearoa examines the art, language, stories and science of insects in Aotearoa and around the world. From te ao Māori to the medieval art world, from museum displays to stories of the insect apocalypse, extinction and conservation, Lily Duval explores the lives of insects not only in Aotearoa’s natural environments, but in our cultures and histories as well.


Bind: hardback


Pages: 298


Dimensions: 190 x 250 mm


Publication Date: 29-03-2024


$55.00
DUE > 1st Apr 2024
Merchant Miner Mandarin : The Life and Times of the Remarkable Choie Sew Hoy

ISBN: 9781988503097

Authors: Jenny Sew Hoy Agnew, Trevor Agnew    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

In 1869, a businessman from China’s Guangdong Province first set foot on New Zealand soil at Port Chalmers. It was the beginning of an illustrious career that...


In 1869, a businessman from China’s Guangdong Province first set foot on New Zealand soil at Port Chalmers. It was the beginning of an illustrious career that would change the shape of commerce and industry in Otago and Southland. ‘Merchant, Miner, Mandarin’ depicts the fascinating life of Choie Sew Hoy – from his early days in China before emigrating to Australia and then New Zealand, to his death in 1901 as one of Dunedin’s most prominent entrepreneurs. The store Choie Sew Hoy established in Dunedin’s Stafford Street was a huge success, while his revolutionary gold-dredging technology improved the fortunes of the gold-mining industry in Otago and Southland. He backed dredging, quartz crushing and hydraulic sluicing ventures in the goldfields of Ophir, Macetown, Skippers, Nokomai and the Shotover. Sharp as a razor, Sew Hoy was a visionary, able to spot opportunities no one else could, whether sending vast amounts of unwanted scrap metal from New Zealand back to China, or joining famous Taranaki businessman Chew Chong’s fungus export trade. Sew Hoy was also a local character, always elegantly dressed and with legendary success in horse racing. His self-assurance and charm gained him entry to the Chamber of Commerce, the Jockey Club, the Masons and even the Caledonian Society. A benefactor to many social causes, he supported hospitals and benevolent associations to help his fellow Chinese immigrants. When the success of the Chinese in New Zealand aroused hostility, he fought the prevalent racism and unfair government legislation of the day. A man of two worlds, Choie Sew Hoy was a success in both. Richly illustrated and deeply researched, ‘Merchant, Miner, Mandarin’ is both the compelling biography of one of the most distinguished figures of New Zealand business and an intriguing account of late 19th-century society, industry and race relations.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 288


Dimensions: 210 x 265 mm


Publication Date: 19-06-2020


Tags: Biography   History   New Zealand   NZ (History)
$49.99
From Gondwana to the Ice Age : The Geological Development Of New Zealand Over The Last 100 Million Years

ISBN: 9781927145999

Authors: Malcolm Laird, John Bradshaw    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

Until about 100 million years ago, New Zealand lay on the Pacific-facing edge of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana; the formation of our sedimentary rocks ...


Until about 100 million years ago, New Zealand lay on the Pacific-facing edge of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana; the formation of our sedimentary rocks provides a fascinating view of the tectonic activity and changes since that time. This volume is the culmination of a comprehensive survey of New Zealand’s Cretaceous–Cenozoic strata, begun in 1978, and presents an up-to-date synthesis and interpretation of regional sedimentary information from a variety of sources; the study has been expanded to include large areas of the continental shelf and beyond. Extensive references and indexing complete this essential work, a key resource for students, professional geologists and enthusiastic amateurs. Topics covered include: • sedimentary basins during the Cretaceous continental margin break-up; • the active tectonics of a ‘passive margin’; • Late Cenozoic sedimentary basins in a new, evolving plate boundary; • eustatic sea-level change in an active tectonic setting; • basin scale and facies change on the new and thin continent Zealandia


Bind: paperback


Pages: 312


Dimensions: 210 x 280 mm


Publication Date: 23-07-2020


$89.99
Llew Summers : Body and Soul

ISBN: 9781988503141

Author: John Newton    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

Llew Summers (1947–2019) was a rarity in the art world – a figurative artist in a scene dominated by abstract practices. ‘Llew Summers: Body and Soul’ d...


Llew Summers (1947–2019) was a rarity in the art world – a figurative artist in a scene dominated by abstract practices. ‘Llew Summers: Body and Soul’ depicts the work and life of one of New Zealand’s most recognisable sculptors, a man of great warmth and astonishing vitality, whose works are daring, sensual and provocative. John Newton takes us from Summers’ beginnings as a self-taught artist, through his relationships and family life, to his success as a highly visible sculptor with works found in public spaces throughout New Zealand. We follow Summers’ progression as an artist, a true independent, working outside the hierarchies of the art world. His early monumental works in concrete made him a public fixture, with themes of nurture and nature, sexuality and solidity seen in his idealised female forms. As he discovered carving in wood and marble, the work became more subtle and increasingly dynamic. From the early 2000s, following his first trip to Europe, religious imagery entered Summers’ work in ways that extended both his visual and thematic range, and introduced a more overtly spiritual element. His later career features depictions of Christ, angelic winged figures and large, ambitious works in bronze. Illustrated with more than 200 photographs, including newly commissioned images of Summers’ works, ‘Llew Summers: Body and Soul’is a joyful record of a life in sculpture and a testimony to the value of public art.


Bind: hardback


Pages: 200


Dimensions: 220 x 250 mm


Publication Date: 21-08-2020


$65.00
Bonsai : Best Small Stories From Aotearoa New Zealand

ISBN: 9781927145982

Authors: Michelle Elvy, Frankie McMillan, James Norcliffe    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

‘Slippery, and exciting … The stories come at youdirectly, and then turn askance, and then slap youin the face’ Allan Drew ‘Bonsai’ brings together a ...


‘Slippery, and exciting … The stories come at youdirectly, and then turn askance, and then slap youin the face’ Allan Drew ‘Bonsai’ brings together a pioneering collection of flash fiction and associated forms (prose poetry and haibun) from 165 writers in Aotearoa New Zealand, along with intriguing essays on this increasingly popular genre. In 200 small stories of no more than 300 words, where the translucent boundaries between prose and poetry are often transgressed, we discover a vast array of human experience. Here, children race snails, shoot tin cans, learn to fly, and look for Antarctica in a drain pipe, while Schrödinger’s cat dreams of life and death, a dog licks away a woman’s tears, and a peacock guards its human family. Family tensions spill over during trips to the beach, couples get together and fall apart, babies are born – or not born – and parents die. You might find yourself dancing like the cool kids, listening to a neighbour sing in the dark, or watching a tractor catch fire. There are perfect moments in miniature as dew falls on a spider’s web and strangers make eye contact. Composed with precision in a form where every word counts, these carefully chiselled works are provocative, tender and endlessly surprising. About the editors Michelle Elvy is a writer and editor of flash fiction whose recent work appears in ‘New Micro Fiction’(WW Norton, 2018). Among her many editing roles she is editor at ‘Flash Frontier’. Frankie McMillan has been called ‘our maestro of flash fiction’.Her book ‘My Mother and the Hungarians, and other small fictions’ (CUP, 2016) was long-listed for the Ockham Book Awards. James Norcliffe is a poet, editor and writer for children. He is editor at ‘Flash Frontier’and has published nine collections of poetry, including ‘Dark Days at the Oxygen Café’(VUP, 2016).


Bind: paperback


Pages: 296


Dimensions: 165 x 215 mm


Publication Date: 24-08-2018


$39.99
Beyond Manapouri

ISBN: 9781988503042

Author: Catherine Knight    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

‘Beyond Manapouri: 50 years of environmental politics in New Zealand’ traces the evolution of environmental administration in New Zealand since the dawn of ...


‘Beyond Manapouri: 50 years of environmental politics in New Zealand’ traces the evolution of environmental administration in New Zealand since the dawn of the ‘environmental era’ in the late 1960s. The national campaign to stop the government from raising the water level in the scenically spectacular Lake Manapouri for a hydro dam is widely credited with the awakening of environmental awareness in New Zealand.Since then, New Zealand has established institutions and legislation dedicated to managing our environment, and the public’s ability to participate in environmental decision-making has been strengthened markedly. At the same time, New Zealanders’ knowledge and awareness of environmental issues have also increased. Even so, the latest reports on our environment indicate that all is not well: our waterways continue to deteriorate, our biodiversity is in decline and our greenhouse gas emissions continue to climb. ‘Beyond Manapouri’is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand why, in spite of the legislation and institutions put in place to improve the stewardship of our environment, we’re now facing more urgent environmental issues than ever before. In this richly illustrated and engagingly written history, Knight also identifies the cultural shifts that will need to take place if we are to live up to the ‘clean, green’ image we have constructed for ourselves in New Zealand. Catherine Knight is the author of ‘New Zealand’s Rivers: An environmental history’(CUP, 2016) which was long-listed for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2017, short-listed for the New Zealand Heritage Book Awards and selected as one of the Listener’s Best Books for 2016. Her 2014 book ‘Ravaged Beauty: An environmental history of the Manawatu’ (Dunmore Press) won the J.M. Sherrard Award in New Zealand Regional and Local History, and Palmerston North Heritage Trust’s inaugural award for the best work of history relating to the Manawatu. Catherine is a policy and communications consultant and lives with her family on a small farmlet in the Manawatu.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 272


Dimensions: 155 x 230 mm


Publication Date: 01-06-2018


$39.99
Prosecuting Intimate Partner Rape: The impact of misconceptions on complainant experience and trial process

ISBN: 9781988503387

Author: Elisabeth McDonald    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

The high level of family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand presents a systemic and resistant challenge for the criminal justice system. While much legal and soci...


The high level of family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand presents a systemic and resistant challenge for the criminal justice system. While much legal and social-science research focuses on the prevention of, and response to, family violence, there is a noticeable dearth of work examining the prosecution of serious sexual and physical violence that occurs within an intimate relationship. ‘Prosecuting Intimate Partner Rape’ addresses that gap. Comparative analysis of 20 intimate partner rape trials (both with a jury and judge-alone) provides the basis for wide-ranging proposals to reform law and practice with the aim of improving complainant trial experience. The work also demonstrates how essential it is for sexual violence within a relationship to be recognised and responded to as a distinct and significant form of harm – in particular there is a pressing need for fact-finders to consider (and be assisted to understand) the nature of consent within a context of coercive control. ‘Prosecuting Intimate Partner Rape’ will be invaluable for those working in, or with interest in, the prosecution of sexual offending and family violence and reform options. It provides commentary of use to lawyers and judges in their practice but is written to be accessible to sector workers, victim support agency workers, policy makers, and students of law, criminology, criminal justice and sociology.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 526


Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm


Publication Date: 01-06-2023


Tags: Reference   Education
$160.00
Keep In A Cool Place : The first winter at Vanda Station, Antarctica

ISBN: 9781988503301

Authors: Allen J Riordan, Simon Cutfield    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

In 1969 Al Riordan, a US Exchange Scientist, joined Simon Cutfield and three other New Zealanders to spend a year at Vanda Station on the shores of Lake Vanda i...


In 1969 Al Riordan, a US Exchange Scientist, joined Simon Cutfield and three other New Zealanders to spend a year at Vanda Station on the shores of Lake Vanda in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. The men lived in a strange world – a snowless place that had not seen a glacier for millions of years, yet lay within sight of the permanent East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The surface of the lake was covered in 3–4 metres of permanent ice, but the temperature of the water near the bottom was +25°C. No one knew for certain why the water was so warm, and Simon’s mission was to take measurements to help solve this mystery and carry out a range of other hydrologic and earth science projects. Al’s aim was to help build a comprehensive weather record, understand the valley wind systems, and to learn why the area was snow-free. Drawing on their diaries and letters, this is a unique first-person account of life at the station as the five men carry out their daily tasks in an environment that challenges and transforms them: temperatures as low as –57°C, eight months of total isolation, including four months of continual darkness, and daunting mechanical and logistical challenges, including a limited supply of power, fuel, heat and water. At least it’s no challenge to follow the instructions on their photographic chemicals – ‘Keep in a cool place’ – like much of their supplies, this equipment is encased in ice. Supplemented with scientific appendices, the book also gives the reader a window on how scientific knowledge is built one step at a time, from the initial planning, to data gathering, to building hypotheses, and to developing theory. As the only complete record of life at Vanda Station during the first year of its occupation, and complemented by a selection of maps and colour photos, this engaging account is an important missing chapter in the history of New Zealand’s Antarctic achievements.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 296


Dimensions: 152 x 229 mm


Publication Date: 01-09-2022


Tags: August 2022   History   Biography
$49.99
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