The Awa Book of New Zealand Sports Writing

Triumphs, disasters, magic moments, and controversies abound in this collection of writing by top New Zealand sportswriters. The material ranges from reporting and commentary to fiction and poetry and is packed full of terrific stories, including Edmund Hillary's conquest of Everest, Jack Lovelock's famous 1,500-meter victory in the shadow of Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and Jean Batten's daring, first solo flight from England to New Zealand that same year. Politics and sports come together in a gripping account of the protests, arrests, and controversy surrounding the South African rugby team's 1981 tour of New Zealand--and the defection 19 years later of South African netball player Irene van Dyk to play for New Zealand. Overall, more than 30 sports are represented, including fly-fishing, motor racing, sailing, archery, and cricket.

Harry Ricketts is a lecturer on English literature and a teacher of creative nonfiction at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. He is the editor of the journal New Zealand Books and the author of How to Catch a Cricket Match; Rudyard Kipling: The Long Trail; Selected Poems; and Worlds of Katherine Mansfield.