report on the successful launch of our 21st title . we re also very pleased that the iconic despotic kim hill interviewed brannavan at length the morning after the show . you can listen to that here . links to this post email thisblogthis share to twittershare to facebookshare to pinterest friday june 3 2016 launch tonight buy a briefcase two pies and a penthouse within new zealand free postage 23.00 nzd 7 australia postage 30.00 nzd 12 rest of world postage 35.00 nzd links to this post email thisblogthis share to twittershare to facebookshare to pinterest monday may 30 2016 radio new zealand review of a briefcase two pies and a penthouse listen to pip adam discuss brannavan gnanalingam s new book with jesse mulligan here . launch parrrty this friday . here s the cover all love to paul neason for his charming design . links to this post email thisblogthis share to twittershare to facebookshare to pinterest monday may 16 2016 interview on the occasion of the imminent publication of a forthcoming book detail of draft of cover on june 3 lawrence and gibson will release brannavan gnanalingam s new novel a briefcase two pies and a penthouse . murdoch from lawrence and gibson asked brannavan a few questions about the new book . i thought to ask questions of you because i was reading animal shelter 3 the third of four so far journals put out by semiotext e under their new incantation under hedi el kholti . the current interview is from 1975 and is with jean eustache . tell me the mother and the whore spoke to your second book are there any films that speak to or are spoken through a briefcase two pies and a penthouse this one was less film influenced than some of my other ones . if i had to name any i d say miguel gomes tabu and christian petzold s phoenix in terms of tone and political commentary . i also really want to prop tim wong s out of the mist a documentary about new zealand cinema that asked some really interesting questions about nationhood and cultural malaise . i thought it was fantastic . the period when i wrote this ended up being a very productive period of going to shows and feeling like i was part of the city . i think that helped in capturing a sense of wellington ness in the book . i went to a number of shows that really nailed shifting between tones and were at once political satirical carried an emotional wallop eamonn marra s respite adam goodall s knifed richard meros hillary clinton young lover and kate mcintosh s all ears . ok maybe meros didn t have an emotional wallop but that s because he s such a rogue . i also ended up seeing a lot of music with this sense of people just playing because they make great music which to be honest is more inspiring than any advice that people give as to how to be an artist . this was all happening despite fewer venues and less mainstream coverage . during this period of writing i saw amazing shows from the all seeing hand dobermen echo beach eyeliner french for rabbits glass vaults grayson gilmour the happy plaster hex lontalius orchestra of spheres phoenix foundation pikelet ruth mundy seth frightening shocking pinks sjd tab tigers of the sea vorn waterfalls and womb for example . there s so much good stuff happening around the place that being part of it helped inform the book . i also reckon new zealand music is doing a far better job at being political and incorporating different voices than most other kiwi art forms . there s a review of your third book about to come out in this quarter s copy of landfall . i was contemplating some witticisms from eustache in that interview and it made me reflect on serious readers . do you feel like there have been serious readers of your catalogue how do you feel about the reviews i am very grateful for any coverage i can get and i feel like i ve been taken seriously . i m particularly grateful for the likes of landfall for ensuring that there continues to be a conversation . i d like to think my books are able to be analysed in critical ways . arts coverage has been declining rapidly . mainstream media organisations seem to think by having less content they d get more readers or maintain their current readership . in fact they re giving many people even less incentive to read them . i remember seeing a study that bookstores that sell a diverse range of titles books weirdly sell more books . to me it s a no brainer . if i want a book and i don t know which one i m going to go to unity not whitcoulls . i don t think it s too different with media reviews . i ve gone off track here . but it s also to say that there are fewer reviews and less coverage of writers than ever before and it s harder for us all to get our work out there . but it s the same across all art forms particularly if you re doing something that you consider worthy of serious consideration . is there any part of the new book that you re most concerned could be misread read more links to this post email thisblogthis share to twittershare to facebookshare to pinterest friday december 18 2015 still got all our fingers and toes ... we re in our tenth anniversary year and have celebrated by producing a gorgeous little booklet 94 pages ; 140x145mm highlighting our releases . it is half catalogue half archive collecting emails excerpts and ephemera from across our eight authors . here s an excerpt from our editor mr stephens on the warrant for such an endeavour and a few more pics of the cover and inside . the book will be free to those interested the question is how to get a copy ... any sales for the next couple of months will receive one but from there it will be up to serendipity . anyone desiring one however can pay the postage packaging and we ll whip one your way at cost nb some of the margins are a little tight in places consider this an objet d art valuable due to its hand production plus individual glitches buy still got all our fingers and toes within new zealand free postage 5.00 nzd 5 australia postage 10.00 nzd 10 rest of world postage 15.00 nzd links to this post email thisblogthis share to twittershare to facebookshare to pinterest monday october 5 2015 great gnanalingam review in fishhead magazine october 2015 copy of fishhead magazine goes in depth on credit in the straight world links to this post email thisblogthis share to twittershare to facebookshare to pinterest litcrawl and meros book goes full circle one of our books has done the equivalent of a round the world journey . starting life as a book it journeyed to becoming a play to becoming a spin off franchise play to becoming another book . hi ho america hi ho hilarity with hillary new zealanders can check out this adaptation in nelson and hastings in the coming week and god willing wellington at the start of next year . more details here . the young lover activity guide is based on meros original on the conditions and possibilities of helen clark taking me as her young lover but is transposed to modern day usa kind of like those awesome scandinavain crime thrillers or the office getting us franchising . expect it to reach beyond the original s 20 30 recommended reading age to a much more inclusive 5 85 age bracket . yes more pictures and fun facts as well as a shorter page count and pronunciation guide for key terms . in other exciting news lawrence & gibson authors will be speaking at a litcrawl event on november 15 at 7.15 pm at six barrel soda . we ll be searching for a patron saint so that we can praise them and encourage the local council to name streets and parks after them . originally there was enthusiasm for john a lee but we all know that he already has that corner named for him in auckland . links to this post email thisblogthis share to twittershare to facebookshare to pinterest monday august 10 2015 richard meros recipient of catton s horoeka reading grant richard meros long time author of lawrence and gibson has published an essay describing his reading while recipient of eleanor catton s horoeka reading grant . established in 2015 the grant is designed to give new zealand writers the means and opportunity not to write but to read and to share what they have read with their colleagues in the arts . read more about the grant here . new bourgeoizealand by richard meros it seems like many many years since new zealand was the land of milk and honey . and while there are those who are creaming it and the hives are still buzzing many of us are living lives of lack . there are not enough jobs and the ones that we do have are precarious . there are not enough houses and the ones that we do have are expensive leaky and cold . there are not enough government services and the ones that we do have are making cut backs . there is a lack there is a lack there is a lack . these appeals to lack have a rich immediacy we feel half emptiness and we let each other know it could be better . every complaint we might hope contributes to the death of the government . but when killing the government even if it is one criticism at a time we all become executioners . the problem with being an executioner is not that each individual criticism is in some way wrong or immoral . instead the problem is that in the end we end up with the executioner mindset seeing the world as one powered by corporal justice . and whoever considered off with his head to be a prescription for the good life read the rest of the article at the horoeka website . links to this post email thisblogthis share to twittershare to facebookshare to pinterest tuesday may 19 2015 media and reviews for credit in the straight world a couple of early reviews are out . first up is ngaire from bookiemonster the best moments are the scenes of surreal hilarity that you only get when you skate right up to real life and tweak it on the nose . and this lovely lively endorsement of our witty works last week at the dunedin writers and readers festival it was asked where are the anarchic books the answer is right in front of us . also on sunday brannavan featured on standing room only interviewed by shaun wilson with a portion of the book read by mark cubey the young marble giants reference not missed . reading from 2m30s ; interview from 4m30s . links to this post email thisblogthis share to twittershare to facebookshare to pinterest sunday may 3 2015 launch photos for credit in the straight world on may day 2015 1 may for those lacking in historical consciousness lawrence & gibson publishing released brannavan gnanalingam s third book and the twentieth for the collective . rousing chants of more and toast the editorial board spontaneously erupted throughout the evening . gin and tonic were applied liberally to the friday evening wounds of the week . apple juice was an option for tee totallers and sensible sensitive . commendations to