Paul Callaghan Luminous Moments

Acknowledged internationally for his ground-breaking scientific research in the field of magnetic resonance, Sir Paul Callaghan was a scientist and visionary with a rare gift for promoting science to a wide audience. He was named New Zealander of the Year in 2011. His death in early 2012 robbed New Zealand of an inspirational leader. PAUL CALLAGHAN: LUMINOUS MOMENTS brings together some of his most significant writing. Whether he describes his childhood in Wanganui, reflects on discovering the beauty of science, sets out New Zealand s future potential or discusses the experience of fatherhood, Sir Paul Callaghan offers eloquent narratives that will endure in this country s literature. Meeting with the cancer that ended his life, he documents for us all ways of living well in the face of illness. As his daughter Catherine writes in her moving foreword: 'He became his own scientific experiment.'

Acknowledged internationally for his ground-breaking scientific research in the field of magnetic resonance, Sir Paul Callaghan was a scientist and visionary with a rare gift for promoting science to a wide audience. He was named New Zealander of the Year in 2011. His death in early 2012 robbed New Zealand of an inspirational leader. Paul Callaghan: Luminous Moments brings together some of his most significant writing. Whether he describes his childhood in Wanganui, reflects on discovering the beauty of science, sets out New Zealand’s future potential or discusses the experience of fatherhood, Sir Paul Callaghan offers eloquent narratives that will endure in this country’s literature. Meeting with the cancer that ended his life, he documents for us all ways of living well in the face of illness. As his daughter Catherine writes in her moving foreword: 'He became his own scientific experiment.'

A bundle of the first four BWB Texts by Paul Callaghan, Maurice Gee, Kathleen Jones and Rebecca Macfie. A moving selection of Sir Paul Callaghan’s writing, offering eloquent narratives that will endure in this country’s literature. Published on the first anniversary of Sir Paul’s death, with a foreword by Catherine Callaghan, Paul Callaghan: Luminous Moments celebrates the life of a remarkable New Zealander. Widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s greatest fiction writers, Maurice Gee has written virtually no non-fiction. The exceptions are the two exquisite childhood reminiscences combined here into a memoir in Creeks and Kitchens. ‘I think … I am going to die’, the stunning chapter from Kathleen Jones’s biography Katherine Mansfield: The Story-teller (2010), describes Mansfield’s last days and death at chateau near Paris, the centre of a spiritual movement led by the mysterious Russian philosopher-mystic Georges Gurdjieff. Written over a period of two years, Rebecca Macfie’s searing account of the Christchurch earthquakes, Report from Christchurch, traces the city's struggle to recover from the disaster and plan for the future. Published in association with the New Zealand Listener. BWB Texts are short books on big subjects by great New Zealand writers. Commissioned as short digital-first works, BWB Texts unlock diverse stories, insights and analysis from the best of our past, present and future New Zealand writing.

Ten New Zealand writers respond to physics, with short stories, poetry, essays and a comic.

Covid-19 has had a devastating effect on New Zealand tourism, but the industry was already troubled by unchecked growth and questionable governance that has put pressure on the environment, infrastructure and communities. In this urgent collection of essays, nine writers outline their vision for sustainable tourism, the barriers to achieving it and how they can be overcome. This BWB Text is a rallying call for a genuine tourism ‘reset’ that puts the environment first and creates more meaningful exchanges between visitors and their hosts.

Two Hundred and Fifty Ways to Start an Essay about Captain Cook, No. 29: With a Non-argument that’s Actually an Argument. Captain Cook? It’s all so very complex. I’m going to sit on the fence. (Whose fence? On whose land? Dividing what from what? You only have a fence when you fear something or when you’re trying to keep something in. Or, as a renovation show on TV informed me, when you want to upgrade your street appeal.) Alice Te Punga Somerville employs her deep research and dark humour to skilfully channel her response to Cook’s global colonial legacy in this revealing and defiant BWB Text.

The ripples the earthquake sent across the region and down the years continue to affect our lives, our livelihoods and endeavours. On 4 September 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck 30 kilometres west of Christchurch. Half a year later, a 6.3 aftershock hit Christchurch, killing 185 people and causing widespread damage throughout the city. In November 2016, multiple faults ruptured near Kaikōura in a massive 7.8 earthquake. Paul Gorman reported on the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes. In Portacom City he describes his own deeply personal story of working as a journalist during the quakes, while also speaking more broadly about the challenges that confront reporters at times of crisis.