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Mates and Lovers: A History of Gay New Zealand

Brickell, Chris

This landmark publication is the first-ever New Zealand gay male history. It combines lively engaging scholarship with a remarkable collection of 130 images, spanning the book's period: 1830-1980. The images are integral to the stories and include several major collections: those of a homosexual Wairarapa photographer dating from c1888-1910 including pictures of his friends and lovers; a set which portrays the beach-side social life of gay Christchurch men during the 1940s; an extensive collection of photos depicting the female impersonators (many of them gay) in the Kiwi Concert Party during and after World War Two, and numerous images from Wellington (and some Auckland) gay social circles during the 1960s. Three of these sets are in private collections, and none have been previously published.

Winner of the New Zealand Society of Authors E. H. McCormick Best First Book Award for Non-fiction and finalist in the 2009 Montana New Zealand Book Awards, History category.

What are the historical changes through which the modern New Zealand 'gay man' has emerged? If he has not always been with us, then who preceded him?

PO BOX 17-244, WELLINGTON 6147, NEW ZEALAND.
TEL: +64-4-475 3327, info@nzbooksabroad.com, FAX: +64-4-475 4040.