Victoria University

A book that is about to be officially launched on Wednesday, 25 January regarding the use of urgency by the New Zealand House of Representatives has already resulted in changes to parliamentary procedure.

What’s the Hurry? Urgency in the NZ Legislative Process 1987-2010 (VUP, Wellington, 2011) is the result of a major research project at Victoria University’s Faculty of Law and was funded by the New Zealand Law Foundation. The Project researchers (Claudia Geiringer, Polly Higbee and Professor Elizabeth McLeay) examined the use of urgency in the New Zealand House of Representatives over a 24-year period – from 1987-2010.  

Last year Chris Bourke took home the country’s top literary honour – the New Zealand Post Book of the Year Award – for his work Blue Smoke: the Lost Dawn of New Zealand Popular Music 1918-1964. This year he heads up the judging panel for the same award.

A respected writer, reviewer, music historian and radio producer, Chris is well known as a former long-time producer for Radio New Zealand National’s Saturday Morning programme and as a staff writer and arts and books editor for print publications including The Listener.

Marsden Books has been at the heart of the Karori community for nearly thirty years. Remarkably, there have only been three owners: Anna Hunt bought from Patricia Morrison who took over from original owner Trevor Rose.

Like any good neighborhood bookshop, Marsden Books reflects its community: young professional families, many of the academic staff of Victoria University and well read retirees.

Anna Hunt jokes that the bookstore ‘doesn’t have a male customer between the ages of 20 and 50’ but what it does have is a loyal clientele who prefer to do their book purchasing from Marsden Books.