It can be tough for a New Zealand book to make its way across the sea into the arms of international readers. But there are a few who have done it, thanks to some ultra famous people and places.
Carrie Bradshaw, aka Sarah Jessica Parker, aka one of the most famous people in the world, has a thing for New Zealand books. Or so it appears. Just yesterday she posted a picture of Catherine Chidgey’s latest (fantastic) novel, Pet, to her stories on Instagram which has 9.3M followers, spruiking both Chidgey and Europa Editions, the UK-based publisher of Pet. “[Fellow author] Rachael King messaged me the screenshot on Facebook at 9.30pm,” Chidgey told us. “I have no idea how to drive Instagram, so I spent the next 40 minutes sending Rachael messages like ‘How do I see it?’, then finally calling her so she could talk me through it like a very patient IT person. It’s an extraordinary thing to happen – I’m thrilled! I splashed it all over social media, and then I was so excited I couldn’t get to sleep till 2am.”
The Pet sighting comes hot on the heals of a lush glimpse of SJP/Carrie Bradshaw clutching Becky Manawatu’s award-winning novel, Auē, against her extremely well-dressed breast in the latest season of And Just Like That…, the new-ish Sex and the City spinoff. The news spread like wildfire across Aotearoa’s literary internet, sparking a refreshed appreciation for the novel that won readers all over the country, and the world, and which won the Ockham’s Jann Medlicott Acorn prize for fiction in 2020.
On seeing the pic of Parker with her book, Manawatu told us: “It was a buzz. My family and friends are all proud of me again. And I’m trying to write my next novel, so I got a little confidence boost to do that, not because of it, but [it’s] just another small reminder of how special Auē is to me, my whānau – what it’s done for us.”
In an interview with Vogue, the props master of And Just Like That… explained that Jessica Parker is heavily involved in choosing the books that appear on the show (also evidenced in the AJLT documentary streaming on Neon which shows just how much SJP is All Over It). A scan of Parker’s Instagram grid reveals that she’s a dedicated reader, regularly posting about books she likes, as well as her own imprint called SJP Lit with indie publisher, Zando.
These latest surprise appearances by Aotearoa lit gems sit within a recent history of such occurrences. Herewith, a briefing on recent NZ books in very famous places:
What: Man & Horse, The Long Ride Across America by John Egenes
Where: the Barbie movie
In Barbie, horses, and men with horses, are absorbed by Ryan Gosling’s (cry-laugh inducing, pitch-perfect) Ken as a symbol for masculinity and the patriarchy. When Ken heads into the real world and into a library he returns holding a book called Man & Horse, The Long Ride Across America by John Egenes, a Dunedin-based academic. Stuff reported that Australian actor Margot Robbie (who plays Stereotypical Barbie in the film) gave Gosling the book (which is a memoir about Egenes’ epic trek across America on a horse called Gizmo) as a present. Stuff reported that Egenes has experienced a spike in sales since his book cameo on Barbie, presumably from eager Ken-empaths after the next adventures of man alone.
What: Lioness by Emily Perkins
Where: Marian Keyes’ Twitter feed
Only a bit over a week ago, mega star Irish writer Marian Keyes (of the Sushi for Beginners fame) sent out a two-tweet thread on just how much she loved Lioness by Emily Perkins, one of our best novelists. “Hello! I’ve just finished reading a great GREAT book! #Lioness by NewZealand author Emily Perkins is the most exciting novel I’ve read in ages…” the thread begins.
It’s a hell of an endorsement to an enormous pool of readers, and yet another reason to love both the Irish and Marian Keyes.
What: A Lion in the Meadow by Margaret Mahy
Where: Succession
Season 3, episode 4 of Succession is aptly and curiously named after A Lion in the Meadow by Margaret Mahy, one of the best children’s books of all time, written by one of the best writers of all time. The book is about a mother who makes up a story to entertain her child, forgetting that his imagination will run with that story until it reaches unexpected and terrifying places. There were two endings published: the first edition (1960s) ended with the line “The mother never ever made up a story again.” while the second version (published in the ’80s) ended with the far softer, “So the lion in the meadow became a house lion and lived in the broom cupboard, and when the little boy had apples, stories and a goodnight hug, the lion had apples, stories and a goodnight hug as well.”
Succession, one of the best TV shows ever made, is about the fantasies and power moves of very rich people who are both lions and dragons and little boys with a very vast meadow to play in. Season 3, episode 4 is a masterclass in mind games and headfuckery: Frank, Kendall and Logan game off against casual billionaire Aaronson; Tom starts to believe he really could be going to jail and fantasises about what it could be like; Connor continues padding his delusions; and so on and so forth.
I like to think that the writers of Succession had the more brutal, original ending of The Lion in the Meadow in mind, given the show’s trajectory from here on in.
What: ‘Creation Story’ by Tayi Tibble
Where: The New Yorker
It’s not film or TV, but being published in The New Yorker is a holy grail for writers. Tibble’s poem ‘Creation Story’ was published in the July 10 & 17 2023 print edition of the magazine, and in the online edition here. Tibble is one of New Zealand’s most talented writers working today. Her first poetry collection Poūkahangatus was also listed as one of The New Yorker’s best books in 2022, with the comment: “This collection’s title poem, which describes itself as ‘An Essay About Indigenous Hair Dos and Don’ts,’ mixes mythological and pop-cultural references with ruminations on female beauty, power, and inheritance: Medusa makes an appearance, as does Disney’s ‘Pocahontas’. Elsewhere, the poet, a Māori New Zealander, uses the film ‘Twilight’ as a lens through which to examine racialized and gendered tensions of adolescence. Tibble’s smart, sexy, slang-studded verse is fanciful and dramatic, revelling in the pains and the pleasures of contemporary young womanhood yet undergirded by an acute sense of history. Her voice remains sure-footed across many registers, and the book, at its best, functions as an atlas for learning to explore the world on one’s own terms.”
While Tibble is the first Māori writer to appear in the hallowed publication, other New Zealand writers to appear there include Bill Manhire, CK Stead and Janet Frame.
What: Pet by Catherine Chidgey
Where: The New York Times
Having your book reviewed is a major thrill (or trauma) and it doesn’t get much better than the New York Times. It could be said that 2023 is the year of Chidgey: her 2022 novel The Axeman’s Carnival won the major prize at the Ockhams, and swiftly after came the publication of Pet, her latest. In her NYT review, Ruth Franklin says Pet is a “lingering, haunting book, which belongs on the shelf with ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’ or ‘My Brilliant Friend’ — a landmark in the small but potent canon of contemporary novels about unusual girls reckoning with themselves and the world around them.”
Such reviews can propel a book on to great heights, like the time Dan Kois reviewed Elizabeth Knox’s novel The Absolute Book on Slate and catalysed a bidding war for the US edition. Long may such coverage continue, and may the Sarah Jessica Parkers of the world keep on turning their glamorous and extremely visible literary tastes in our direction.