The Settler's Plot How Stories Take Place in New Zealand

The Settler¿s Plot is a fresh and engaging study of the relationship between literature and place in New Zealand. Drawing on an engrossing selection of documentary and literary sources, from F E Maning and Herbert Guthrie-Smith to Mansfield, Sargeson, Curnow and Frame, Alex Calder explores the places our writers have turned to most often: the beach, the farm, the bush, the suburb and 'overseas¿. He connects the history of Pa-keha- settlement to the way stories take shape in these settings through fascinating and unpredictable readings of some of our greatest works of literature.

Alex Calder is an English lecturer at the University of Auckland and the cofounder of the literary magazine And. He is the recipient of a Marsden Fund Award and the author of numerous books, including Old New Zealand and Other Writings and Voyages and Beaches: Pacific Encounters, 1769–1840.