First New Zealand Gay History Book Is Finalist for Major Literary Prize

Strange as it sounds, there had never been a history of gay men in New Zealand until Chris Brickell published Mates and Lovers last year. Now the book has been named a finalist for the country's major literary prize, The Montana New Zealand Book Awards. According to their citation:

"Chris Brickell tells the evolving story of New Zealand gay men through the lives of clerks, labourers, shop assistants, soldiers, actors and writers of all classes, and he shows that our erotic past was vibrant, complex and often surprising."

Combining personal history with academic analysis, Brickell's book reveals New Zealand's gay culture from the colonial period to the present. The text is enhanced by hundreds (variously listed as 300 or 500) of vintage photos, most of them never before published. One example, right.

(If you're confused by the name, Montana is the NZ winery that sponsors the awards.)