Author Description

This entertaining book of fictional stories engages with the idea of ambiguity creatively. This collection reflects our society in provocative, humane and intriguing ways. Back cover Lying at the core of our interactions, words are both salves and weapons, they can be simple and fork-tongued. How we read, how we misinterpret each other, can reveal the nature of our society - its diversity, complexity and richness. These stories riff on this ambiguity of understanding: there are vivid scenes from our colonial past right up to the current day; a previous prime minister tries to dodge a photographer; a writer reworks a film premise over and over again; spray painters express themselves in their own language; couples lock horns while strangers are brought together; there is humour, there is poignancy, there is terrific writing. This is a collection that will provoke, stimulate and delight. Front flap Differing interpretations can define and bind us, as New Zealanders have discovered with the Treaty of Waitangi. The starting-off point for this collection of short stories is a piece of text or image that is read differently by different people: be it because of ambiguity, or misapprehension, a problem of translation, or opposing perspectives or cultures. This book is not meant to explore the issues of the Treaty of Waitangi in any literal or direct way, but rather explore the human paradox that has followed from its writing 170 years ago: in trying to bring people together, words can also push them apart. This collection of entertaining stories reflects our society in provocative, humane and intriguing ways. Back flap Written by a mix of leading New Zealand writers, with a diverse variety of backgrounds, ranging from Maori to British, Irish to Polynesian, Chinese to Greek, this entertaining book of fictional stories engages with the idea of ambiguity creatively.