As part of the Department of English staff seminar series, Shef will present his initial findings on a study of the prices of books published in English 1701–1800.  All are most welcome to attend.  The study is part of a joint project with Prof. David Fielding in Economics and David will also be in attendance.

The seminar takes place in Burns 4 of the Arts Building at 4pm on Friday, 7 October.

The Dunedin Rare Book School returns to Dunedin for the fourth time from 29 January to 3 February 2017.  On offer are three classes taught by three superb scholars: Claire Bolton, David McKitterick and Scott Schofield.  Claire will be working with John Holmes to elucidate the still somewhat unexpected methods that printers adopted during the incunable period as they experimented with typecasting, two-colour printing, and more efficient layouts.  David will bring to bear his wide-ranging historical expertise to examine how the whole concept of “rare” books has developed over the past three centuries, while Scott will explore the relevance of the history of book design for contemporary book production, both paper and electronic.  For more details, click on the second item in the blue ribbon, where you can read full descriptions and find advance reading lists for all three classes.

Prof. Bill Sherman was originally scheduled to deliver the 2016 Dalziel Lecture on 20 September, but will now be visiting the Centre in early 2017.  Instead, we are delighted to announce that the 2016 Margaret Dalziel Lecture will be delivered by Prof. Ilan Stavans, the Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College.  His topic will be “Shakespeare in Prison,” a reflection on his experience teaching the Bard to a combined group of Amherst students and prisoners.  His talk should provide much food for thought about what books do in the world.  While he is in town, Prof. Stavans will also give a Centre for the Book talk about Cervantes’ Don Quixote and how that not very special book at the time of publication became a classic.  Further details about rooms and times will appear shortly.

Please join the Dunedin Public Libraries’ extended celebration of last year’s symposium theme.  This free evening discussion group gathers at 7 pm to talk about the wonders of children’s literature and fairy tales. There will also be an opportunity for a tour of the City Library’s children’s stacks, full of treasures still enjoyed by children and those young at heart.  Bookings are recommended: phone 474-3690 or email library@dcc.govt.nz.  For more information, contact Jackie McMillan.

They are pouring in so quickly that we’ve not been keeping up properly.  Having already been awarded the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand prize at the end of last month, Donald Kerr’s bio/bibliographical study of Dr. Hocken has now been announced as the winner of the 2016 John Harris Award from LIANZA.  Books are obviously a hot historical topic and we are delighted to be able to celebrate Donald’s success.

Just under months from today we will be gathered for the 2016 Centre for the Book Annual Research Symposium.  This year’s event will open with a public lecture on Thursday night, followed by a day of stimulating papers. Thursday night’s lecture at the Dunedin Public Library will be given by Neville Peat, author of numerous books about Southern New Zealand (http://www.nevillepeatsnewzealand.com/). Come listen to this well-known author reflect on his sense of book and place as he describes, in words and pictures, some of New Zealand’s most remote and precious areas and landmarks, and his ideas for an autobiography that explores an array of New Zealand islands spanning 8,500 kms of latitude, from the tropical to the frozen.

Friday will consist of panels of 20-min papers, with a plenary lecture by Dr. Ingrid Horrocks of Massey University after morning tea.  Ingrid is one of the editors of the forthcoming Victoria University Press title,Extraordinary Anywhere: Essays on Place from Aotearoa New Zealand, as well as an online anthology about a particular place, Pukeahu (http://pukeahuanthology .org/).  The day will open with reflections by Professor Tony Ballantyne.  The full program is available to download.

We are also delighted that Nicky Page will be joining us. As Director to Dunedin’s City of Literature program, Nicky will have lots of thoughts about our topic and will also look forward to hearing the insights of others.

Thanks to support from the Department of English and Linguistics, the Division of the Humanities, and the Centre for Research on Colonial Cultures, we are delighted that there will be no charge for the symposium, though participants will need to bring or buy their own lunch.  We will provide a reception following the evening lecture, and morning and afternoon tea.

We look forward to seeing you.  We can accommodate 70 people in the Marjorie Barclay Theatre of the Otago Museum, so please ensure you register early to secure a place.  To register, you need to send an email providing your name as you wish it to appear on your name tag and your email address to books@otago.ac.nz.  You will also need to notify the Public Library that you wish to attend the Thursday evening lecture by going to the Library’s event site to let them know you are coming.

As Ed. Hillary famously said “We knocked the b…. off.” The PIR 2016 Otakou Press publication Freda Du Faur Southern Alps 1909-1913 is now complete, handsomely printed by Sarah Smith, our visiting printer from Dartmouth College, USA. And to celebrate reaching the summit (and getting back down again) we held a traditional Wayzgoose*; everyone who attended last night remarked on the fine production. Poet Rhian Gallagher read three poems from the book, and artist Lynn Taylor and Sarah talked about the collaborative process involved during the project.

One hundred copies of this concertina-style publication are for sale at the great price of NZ$120.  Please contact Donald Kerr for details on securing a copy and payment options.

The Hocken Collections has announced a $10,000 fellowship for work using the riches of their holdings as a special gift from the Friends of the Hocken in celebration of 25 years of the group’s support.  How cool would it be if that research project were on print culture?  Please help spread the word to all interested scholars.  Applications close 17 October 2016.

Professor Bill Sherman will be unable to join us for the Dalziel Lecture later this month, but I am pleased to announce that we will still have a Dalziel lecture this year, a few weeks later in mid-October, and all going well, I hope it will have a strong book focus as well.  Look out for more details soon.