Here's some essential reading for anyone interested in the arts. Auckland academic/writer/critic Roger Horrocks interviewed a number of New Zealand artists, writers, musicians, painters and filmmakers for his book, Culture in a Small Country: The Arts in New Zealand. The work includes a history of the film industry, plus interviews with WIFT NZ members Gaylene Preston, Shirley Horrocks, Roseanne Liang and Vincent Ward.
Horrocks takes an unusual, down-to-earth approach in that his book looks not only at artistic innovations but also at practical problems, public scandals, and the struggle in a small society to reach critical mass.
The Auckland Writers Festival's Peter Simpson noted that Horrocks’ last two chapters on the revolutions of Digital Age and the far-reaching and often devastating impact of the Covid pandemic “are in some ways the most original, as this is largely uncharted territory so far as intelligent commentary is concerned and their inclusion gives the book a bracingly current and up-to-date ambience”.
Available directly from Atuanui Press or from bookstores such as Unity Books.