Books

Books

Across the Pass:

A collection of tramping writing

Selected by Shaun Barnett
Otago University Press, October 2021

New Zealanders have produced a rich body of literature about tramping, with writing spanning nearly two centuries and ranging from poetry and songs, journals and newspaper pieces to magazine articles and books.

The pieces in Across the Pass, as selected by Shaun Barnett, range from epic tales to stories of strolls. Some writers celebrate the intricacies of nature and the strong bond forged when facing challenges together, while others talk of treading the trails first pioneered by their ancestors. All say something about the many textures and colours of the experience we call tramping.

Across the Pass includes writing from New Zealanders such as writer John Mulgan, mountaineers Sir Edmund Hillary and Lydia Bradey, adventurer Graeme Dingle, public servant Bill Sutch, MP Eugenie Sage and photographer Craig Potton.

Wai Pasifika:

Indigenous ways in a changing climate

By David Young
Otago University Press, October 2021

In this beautifully written and illustrated book, David Young focuses on the increasingly endangered resource of freshwater and what so-called developed societies can learn from the indigenous voices of the Pacific.

Combining 19th century and indigenous sources with a selection of modern studies and his own personal encounters, Young keeps a human face on the key issue of water. He confirms that the gift of indigenous people to their colonisers is that they offer systematic and different concepts of being in, and experiencing, nature.

There is still potential for change, Young argues in this inspiring and moving study. But it is time people woke up to the dangers and began to embrace possible solutions. The future rests on developing the discipline of deep respect for place, for planet and for life in its myriad forms.

For further information:

Otago University Press
otago.ac.nz/press l university.press@otago.ac.nz