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Black Ice Matter
Black Ice Matter | Gina Cole
8 posts | 3 read | 14 to read
This collection of short stories explores connections between extremes of heat and cold. Sometimes this is spatial or geographical; sometimes it is metaphorical. Sometimes it involves juxtapositions of time; sometimes heat appears where only ice is expected. In the stories, a woman is caught between traditional Fijian ways and the brutality of the military dictatorship; a glaciology researcher falls into a crevasse and confronts the unexpected; two women lose children in freak shooting accidents; a young child in a Barbie Doll sweatshop dreams of a different life; secondary school girls struggle with secrets about an addicted janitor; and two women take a deathly trip through a glacier melt stream. These are some of the unpredictable stories in this collection that follow themes of ice and glaciers in the heat of the South Pacific and take us into unusual lives and explorations.
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Sue
Black Ice Matter | Gina Cole
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Dr Anita Heiss shared this great list of Maori ad Pasifika authors - read brown !

https://www.anzliterature.com/feature/arent-reading-brown/

Lindy Thanks for linking. The list includes authors I‘m familiar with (Ihimaera, Grace, Cole, Wendt) or already on my TBR (Meredith, Morris) and so many more that are new to me that I‘d like to explore. 6y
Sue No worries @Lindy ! My knowledge of Maori and Pasifika authors is woeful (Tu is the only book on this list I am familiar with) and I‘m always happy to share diverse authors and books. 6y
59 likes2 comments
review
Redheadrambles
Black Ice Matter | Gina Cole
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Well done Huia publishing for getting this accomplished short story collection by debut NZ author Gina Cole out in the world.
I loved it.
It was fun to see this author try out many personas and situations and yet thread them through with what I came to think of as, ice, science and bad luck.
I am ambivalent about short stories but this book surprised me. The writing is assured and it feels like a new and exciting NZ / Fijian voice.

Redheadrambles Task 21 - Micropress (although this is more of a small local independent publisher) #readharder #readharder2017 #readharderchallenge 7y
ClairesReads This sounds really good- I might have to scope it out! 7y
Redheadrambles @ClairesReads yeah I liked it, quite a bit, which is surprising as I normally don't really like new author short stories much 😉 7y
See All 8 Comments
Lindy Rabbit Shoot was the only story I didn't care for in this collection. Loved the variety of settings and characters. Baby Doll was my favourite. 7y
Redheadrambles @Lindy I actually quite liked those two contrasting stories - Rabbit Shoot and pigeon Shoot when considered together. Probably my personal favourite was "Home detention " as it was sad and funny. 7y
Lindy @Redheadrambles oh, yes. Home Detention. That one was clever and touching. 7y
Redheadrambles @Lindy I keep hoping more readers will pick this collection up - your the only other person on here that has reviewed it I think - of which you did a nice job by the way 😀 7y
Lindy @Redheadrambles We are doing what we can to spread the word. 👍 7y
19 likes1 stack add8 comments
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Lindy
Black Ice Matter | Gina Cole
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Serafina followed Bubu as the old woman walked up the narrow lane to the waiting taxi, bent over at a scoliotic right angle to the ground. Her mind remained nimble, from the constant weaving of intricate patterns held in her vast memory. Serafina believed that weaving kept Bubu alive.
[image from museumvictoria.com.au ]

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Lindy
Black Ice Matter | Gina Cole
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My friend, she Hani girl from Yunnan province on machine next row, orange scarf row. She big sick. Smell make girl sick we think. She go home. Girl go home ... no good. No come back. Hani girl, she die last week. We girl have sick. We girl know. 6 month, cough start, you die. I start cough 5 month now when monsoon come, wash out cycle-way, we walk in mud. I grateful la Allah I 10 year old in 3 week. I want die 10 year old.

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Lindy
Black Ice Matter | Gina Cole
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Bianca was the same: petite and slight, a stick-insect woman, and if she turned sideways, she disappeared. In fact she was fly paper: if she turned sideways all you could see was the glue, and I was a fly. I couldn't keep away: I was stuck fast and dying.

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Lindy
Black Ice Matter | Gina Cole
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Pickpick

This short story collection has made such an impact on me that I'm still processing its effect a week after finishing it. Selina Tusitala Marsh wrote: "Aotearoa New Zealand has yet to hear a voice as striking as this one from its Pacifika diaspora: Fijian-infused, queer-inflected, and crafted with legal precision."
#lgbtq

shawnmooney Sold! 7y
Bibliogeekery Thanks for the tip on this one! #queerbooks 7y
Lindy @Bibliogeekery @shawnmooney Yay! I'm always happy to share news about good books. 7y
37 likes6 stack adds3 comments
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Lindy
Black Ice Matter | Gina Cole
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#currentlyreading one story a day from the 2016 Short Story Advent Calendar, as well as working my way through a collection by a part-Fijian queer author from New Zealand (Gina Cole). Also a fun cookbook (Dandelion and Quince), an audiobook (Excellent Women by Barbara Pym) and rereading an ebook (North East by Wendy McGrath) for book club.

Lacythebookworm Where did you find the short story advent calendar?! 😊 7y
Lindy @Lacythebookworm It was a gift, but I know they sell out early. You can sign up to be notified about the next one. They are beautifully produced, with big name authors. http://www.shortstoryadventcalendar.com 7y
SaraFair Signed up! Would the stories be appropriate for a ya reader (15 yrs)? Would be a great gift for her. 7y
Lindy @SaraFair Yes, it would be a great gift. I can't remember anything from the previous calendar that would be inappropriate, but couldn't say for sure, not knowing the young woman either. 15 is practically adult, as far as reading goes. 7y
SaraFair @lindy- I should have been more specific. Figured they were fine, but just didn't want to give any sexually explicit stories out. Lol 7y
40 likes1 stack add5 comments
quote
Lindy
Black Ice Matter | Gina Cole
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"Wai had told them about how delicious the pigeons would taste when steamed in the lovo between a bed of hot rocks and a covering of warm earth and banana leaves, their nutmeg and fruit diet infusing delicate flavours into the meat."
[This makes Fijian pigeons sound so much more tasty than their Canadian counterparts. I don't even know what pigeons eat during Edmonton winters.]