{"id":404,"date":"2014-05-14T14:11:57","date_gmt":"2014-05-14T03:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dislocated.org\/?page_id=404"},"modified":"2026-02-24T08:40:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:40:54","slug":"arms-race-and-other-stories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dislocated.org\/?page_id=404","title":{"rendered":"BOOKS"},"content":{"rendered":"

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LITTLE DOOMSDAYS<\/h1>\n

It\u2019s said \u2014 in the quiet between buses, down the back of the pub, in the hushed elevator rising to the penthouse \u2014 that in the late twentieth century an unstable grouping of scholars, writers and fanatics from several Ng\u0101i Tahu hap\u016b in Murihiku created what has come to be known as the Ark of Arks.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s said that this project aimed to catalogue all known arks from the last five millennia. It was a failed attempt to capture previous civilisations\u2019 failed attempts to preserve whatever was valuable to them: waka huia, time capsules, caches, burial ships, seed banks.<\/em><\/p>\n

The fifth in the ground-breaking k\u014drero series conceived and edited by Lloyd Jones, Little Doomsdays<\/em> is another rich collaboration between an artist and a writer. This time legendary musician and painter Phil Dadson responds to a wildly innovative text that\u2019s steeped in te ao M\u0101ori by Ng\u0101i Tahu writer Nic Low.<\/p>\n

Taking its form from the fragmented clay tablets that held the original text of Noah’s ark, Little Doomsdays<\/em> weaves together stories from 5,000 years of human history to ask: what happens when a people move past denial and mitigation and arrive at open fear? When faced with their own demise, what do they grab? Moving from the sand dunes of Murihiku to the great Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway to Mosul in Iraq, it looks at the lengths to which we will go in order to protect and preserve that which we love.<\/p>\n

Praise for Little Doomsdays<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cone of the most engaging, inventive and original sequences of writing I\u2019ve read in a long time.<\/strong>\u201d \u2014 Ian Wedde, NZ Review of Books<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201ca tour-de-force of the power of art<\/strong> to capture and express complex, heavy ideas and spark deep contemplation and conversation.\u201d \u2014 Jessica Agoston-Cleary, Kete Books<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201can extraordinary combination of fairy tale, parable and scientific enquiry<\/strong>\u201d – John Daly-Peoples, New Zealand Arts Review<\/em><\/p>\n

Little Doomsdays<\/em> “is fluent and fluid, it is poetic and philosophical, mysterious and multilayered<\/strong>… I have lingered over the book at a time when the inhumanity of Gaza is breaking our hearts… The book has been a much needed retreat, a meditation aid where to dream and drift, to grieve and to construct, is a salve. Beautifully produced, rich in connections, Little Doomsdays is a fine addition to a fine series.” – Paula Green, NZ Poetry Shelf<\/em><\/p>\n

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Extent: 96pp<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Format: Hardback, full colour<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Publication date: 14 September 2023<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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ISBN: 9781991016256<\/div>\n
Find out where to buy a copy here.<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Read an extract in The Spinoff.<\/a><\/div>\n

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UPRISING: WALKING THE SOUTHERN ALPS OF NEW ZEALAND<\/span><\/h1>\n

This book is about walking as a form of knowing. Armed with Ng\u0101i Tahu\u2019s traditional oral maps and modern satellite atlas, I crossed the Southern Alps more than a dozen times, trying to understand how our forebears saw the land. What did it mean to define your identity by sacred mountains, or actually see them as ancestors, turned to stone?<\/i><\/p>\n

Raised in the shadow of New Zealand\u2019s Southern Alps, Nic Low grew up on mountain stories from his family\u2019s European side. Years later, a vision of the Alps in a bank of storm clouds sparked a decade-long obsession with comprehending how his M\u0101ori ancestors knew that same terrain.<\/p>\n

K\u0101 Tiritiri-o-te-moana, the Alps, form the backbone of the Ng\u0101i Tahu tribe\u2019s territory: five hundred kilometres of mountains and glaciers, rivers and forests. Far from being virgin wilderness, the area was named and owned long before Europeans arrived and the struggle for control of the land began.<\/p>\n

Low talked with tribal leaders, dived into the archives and an astonishing family memoir, and took what he learned for a walk. Part gripping adventure story, part meditation on history and place, Uprising recounts his alpine expeditions to unlock the stories living in the land.<\/p>\n

Uprising<\/i> is an invitation to travel one of the world\u2019s most spectacular landscapes in the company of M\u0101ori explorers, raiding parties, and gods.<\/p>\n

Praise for Uprising<\/em><\/h3>\n

‘A lyrical exploration of alpine trails, history and memory<\/strong> that brilliantly treads the line between trauma and humour, fact and fiction, and M\u0101ori and P\u0101keh\u0101 worlds.\u2019 – Listener<\/em>, Best books of 2021<\/p>\n

\u2018Nic Low invites us to experience a Ma\u014dri understanding of language, land, and history<\/strong> … both a comfort read and education.\u2019 – Tony Birch, Australian Book Review<\/em> Books of the Year 2021<\/p>\n

‘First up, it’s a straightforward great read<\/strong> … Uprising<\/em> will join the New Zealand canon, or blow right past it, but whichever, it’ll make an impact<\/strong> … it cast[s] the same strange light Keri Hulme once saw over “this shining land”‘ – Geoff Chapple, The Listener<\/em><\/p>\n

‘A narrative of multiple crossings of K\u0101 Tiritiri-o-te-moana, the South Island\u2019s Main Divide, Uprising<\/em> is a song to the mountains, rivers, glaciers, coasts, skies, weather<\/strong> and more\u2026It is a meditation that intensifies as the book unfolds<\/strong>. And it is deeply personal.\u2019’ – Kennedy Warne, Kete<\/a><\/p>\n

“A riveting blend of nature writing, indigenous storytelling and great adventure <\/strong>through New Zealand\u2019s Southern Alps.” – Western Australian<\/em><\/p>\n

‘An outstanding book<\/strong>, and one that anyone who likes to wander through the South Island back-country, or who has an interest in the history of that area, needs to read. For many, it will enable the hills to be viewed with a new lens.’ – David Barnes, Otago Daily Times<\/a><\/p>\n

Media<\/h3>\n

Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan: Nic Low on following historic routes across the Southern Alps<\/a><\/p>\n

Tales from the Southern Alps, Otago Daily Times<\/a><\/p>\n

Spreading the WORD, Latitude Magazine<\/a><\/p>\n

Writers on Winter, Canvas Magazine, New Zealand Herald<\/a><\/p>\n

Loose Reads – Jenna Todd on 96B FM NZ<\/a><\/p>\n

ABC Radio Melbourne: Evenings<\/a> (2:04:00)<\/p>\n

ABC Radio National: Life Matters<\/a><\/p>\n

Star News <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Winner of the Copyright Licensing New Zealand \/ New Zealand Society of Authors Writers Award; winner of the Wily Prize and runner up, Non-fiction, in the New Zealand Heritage Book Awards.
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A Listener, Your Weekend<\/em>, Sydney Morning Herald<\/em> and Australian Book Review <\/em>book of the year.<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Extent: 384pp<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Format: Paperback<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Publication date: 2 July 2021<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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ISBN: 9781925355284<\/div>\n
Find out where to buy a copy here.<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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ARMS RACE<\/h1>\n

Shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards Steele Rudd Award and the Readings Prize for New Fiction, and named a New Zealand Listener<\/em> and Australian Book Review<\/em> Book of the Year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arms Race brings together twelve tales from the modern age of escalation. Data theft, internet memes, advertising, terrorism, indigenous sovereignty, drone warfare, opium addiction, syphilis, the moon landing, mining, oil slicks, climate change, giant octopuses: nothing is spared in this collection. Nic Low’s stories go beyond satire, aiming for the dark heart of our obsession with technology, power and image.<\/p>\n

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Set variously in London, a Rajasthani village, remote Mongolia, the West Australian outback and mountainous New Zealand, these are prescient visions of the future and outlandish reimaginings of the past.\u00a0Arms Race<\/i>\u00a0is an arresting debut from a fierce, playful new voice in Australian writing.<\/p>\n

Nic Low’s stories are like controlled detonations.\u00a0Arms Race is machete-sharp, politically engaged and thematically fearless.\u00a0Australian short fiction just got lobbed into the 21st Century<\/p>- Maxine Beneba Clarke, author of Foreign Soil<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n

‘Outrageous, clever, passionate: a must read. These stories delight on so many levels and are written with a singular energy and skill.<\/p>- Eva Hornung, author of Dog Boy<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n

ARMS RACE REVIEWS<\/h2>\n

“[Low’s] writing is fierce and uncompromising, bringing contemporary anxieties to \u00adthe surface … This collection fights and grapples with language, counter-culture and consumerism, the characters inhabiting a plastic-elastic world being reshaped in the mould of whoever gets to the gold first: the digital landscape isn\u2019t where we\u2019re heading; it\u2019s right now. As Low careers from a giant octopus tidal wave in New Zealand to a photocopying room the size of a desert in India, he\u2019s heralding a planet on the tip of catastrophe wherever he turns. It\u2019s seductive and frightening …” – The Weekend Australian<\/a><\/p>\n

“There’s a bristling, playful energy to Nic Low’s writing…the narrative fairly pulses along at a cracking pace … standout satire” – Sydney Morning Herald<\/a>“<\/p>\n

“A terrific book; an amazing debut … activist literature, confronting us and getting us to think about our present. Frightening and compelling at the same time.” – Radio New Zealand National<\/a><\/p>\n

“brazenly funny … [Nic Low’s] voice is natural and bitterly compelling. He never attempts to soothe us with easy answers, but instead enjoys posing difficult questions. If some of these tales might darken your mood, most of them will excite your imagination and alter your perception of the world.” – The Thousands<\/p>\n

“Arms Race<\/em> highlights a remarkable depth of voice and narrative range. My favourite from the collection is \u02bbRush\u02bc, a humorous and intelligent insight into post-colonial relationships in Australia. Low is from New Zealand. We might want to claim him ahead of Russell Crowe.” – Tony Birch, Australian Book Review, Short Story Books of the Year 2014.<\/a><\/p>\n

“Nic Low\u02bcs Arms Race<\/em> is similarly mischievous, although while Davis\u02bcs stories are claustrophobically focused on the personal, Low targets the political. He provokes his readers with visions of speculative futures that are always about the present. What would it be like if indigenous Australians started a mining operation at the Shrine of Remembrance?” – Maria Takolander, Australian Book Review, Short Story Books of the Year 2014.<\/a><\/p>\n

“Arms Race<\/em> is wryly amusing, thematically fearless, and has left me hopeful and excited for the future of Australian short fiction.” – Maxine Beneba Clarke, Australian Book Review, Short Story Books of the Year 2014.<\/a><\/p>\n

“Characters on the verge of a breakthrough populate this impressive d\u00e9but short story collection … Low\u2019s stories cover an ambitious range of locations from Melbourne to Mongolia; his prose is energetic and inspired … Low deals with issues of real moral substance: the effects of mining, global warming, drone strikes. He has a knack of approaching these sobering subjects with humour and whimsy. His characters can laugh, even in the face of their demise … Low\u02bcs stories prompt us to re-examine urgent questions about the way we live our lives.” – Australian Book Review<\/a><\/p>\n

“… there’s a bony grace to the prose that makes the best of these short stories surprising … especially in opium fever-dream The Lotus Eaters, spare and insightful outback tale Scar, and Photocopy Planet, a canny interrogation of the appeal of self-generated alternative histories, set in rural India but relevant everywhere. Low has a strong environmental conscience and a darkly satirical streak, probing the faultlines between cultures, classes and ideologies with great skill, sending back dispatches as dry as Sahara sand.” – Your Weekend, NZ.<\/p>\n

“Low\u2019s collection of short stories spans the globe, tracing lines of warfare, surveillance and oppression with fierce wit and masterful story telling … the mix of humour and rebellion rings throughout a collection with a keen eye on the greater powers and narratives that shape us … Arms Race is cat-nip for cynics and a joy to read.” – NZ Lit Lovers<\/a><\/p>\n

Arms Race<\/em> is the most fun I\u2019ve had in a long time.” – Readings<\/a><\/p>\n

“… tales that explore the dark psyche of human nature in an often playful and hilarious fashion … rewards being dipped into with fine writing and arresting images.” – The Hoopla<\/a><\/p>\n

TV AND RADIO<\/h2>\n

Melbourne Writer Nic Low Hasn’t Forgotten His Roots: Nic interviewed on TV3’s Firstline<\/a>, 26 August 2014.<\/p>\n

Politics, polemics and satire: interview with Nic on Radio New Zealand National’s Nine to Noon program<\/a>, 22 August 2014.<\/p>\n

Arms Race: interview with Nic on RDU 98.5FM’s Morning Glory Show<\/a>, 28 August 2014.<\/p>\n

3CR Podcast: Behind the Words interview about Arms Race<\/a> (starting from 13:25).<\/p>\n

2SER’s Final Draft podcast: Arms Race and Nic Low on Telling Tales<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Arms<\/a><\/p>\n