Victoria University Press: 93 books

The third play in the trilogy that began with Wednesday to Come and Pass It On.

The middle play in the trilogy begun by Wednesday to Come and set amongst the Waterfront Lockout of the 1950's.

In her first collection of stories, Gemma Bowker-Wright leads us into the phases of transition and transformation in people’s lives: a dream job, a rare afternoon between son and father, a man losing his wife to Alzheimer’s, a first snow. Like the Red Queen of Through the Looking-Glass, many of...

A young violin prodigy grows up in Harbin and Shanghai amidst the absurd and often deadly politics of mid-century China. Under the dual influences of her revolutionary parents and the White Russian intellectuals who are her tutors (and who provide her with a link, personal and tragic, to the composer...

Witty and acute, this daring collection of stories is a sharp-eyed look at modern relationships and the pressures and delights of everyday life. With control and humor, this ensemble of fables, satires, notes to self, snapshots, and vignettes from one of New Zealand's finest authors offers beautiful yet disquieting views of contemporary living in easy, conversational tones.

Effortlessly blending dark humor with unnerving situations, this collection of stories addresses a variety of entertaining scenarios with warmth and subtlety. From a story about a little girl out of her depth in a friendship with an adult neighbor to an armed intruder thwarted by a bee and from a...

f we don't have the past in mind, it is merely history. If we do, it is still part of the present.Esther's grandparents first meet at a church dance in London in 1947. Stephen, a shy young Kiwi, has left to practise pharmacy on the other side of the world. Eva has grown up English, with no memory...

In these 14 magnificent new stories from a New Zealand master, Vincent O’Sullivan exhibits a shrewd understanding that pierces to the heart of what it means to be human. O’Sullivan can mock, satirize, and laugh, but he also finds dignity in unexpected places. He is interested in the art of living and in the borderland where truth and lies meet, both in life and in fiction itself.

Devenport Naval Base, New Zealand, 1962: With her husband away at sea, Sophie Flynn’s life is becoming considerably complicated. She has two children to look after, the captain’s wife to minister to, a wayward sister to keep an eye on, and an elderly neighbor to nurse. As if that wasn’t enough,...

The analyses in this book focus on the participation of the people within New Zealand’s system of government. The chapters provide a thorough examination of the government’s size, accessibility, structure, electoral system, and active committees in order to explain trends in the participation of sub-state actors, such as indigenous peoples and other minority groups.

Set on a marae on the East Coast in 1919 when a war weary soldier, Taneatua, returns from Europe a hero. A powerfully dramatic play of family secret, confrontation and revenge.

The?Ice?Shelf:?an?eco-comedyOn the eve of flying to Antarctica to take up an arts fellowship, thirty-something Janice, recently separated, has a long night of remembrance, regret and realisation as she goes about the city looking for a friend to take care of her fridge while she's away. En route she...

In June 1944, when 14-year-old Stefan Wisniewski stood by his mother’s dusty Tehran grave, he knew his world was about to change again, forever. Give Us This Day: A Memoir of Family and Exile explores the story of one of the 732 Polish child survivors of wartime Soviet deportation offered unlikely...

Amy is a store detective at Cutty's, the oldest and grandest department store in the country. She's good at her job. She can read people and catch them. But Cutty's is closing down. Amy has a young baby, an ailing mother, and a large mortgage. She also has a past as an activist.This compelling novel...