![]() The writing is again remarkably eloquent and metaphorically rich, though less consciously lyrical than at times in Dangerous Desires. Wells’s second collection, The Duration of a Kiss (1994), is more darkened by the shadow of AIDS, ‘the fateful diaspora’, ‘the chaotic dark agent of a virus’. The last story, ‘Dark and Light’, ends with a movement out of the ‘dark zone of passion’ to realisation ‘that already it was dawn, the night had ended and there was light, trembling like a membrane, all over the world.’ Visually vivid, perhaps reflecting his experience as a film writer and director, the stories have a freshness of image and phrase and a sometimes mannered coruscation of language that work to affirm vitality in the face of the often tragically frank presentation of gay life in the age of AIDS. ‘One of THEM!’, concerning two young men coming to terms with their sexuality, was described as ‘a small masterpiece’ by the Book Award judges, who also commended ‘Of Memory and Desire’, about a Japanese couple honeymooning in New Zealand, as ‘original, sensitive and finally deeply moving’ in its tragic outcome. Extraordinary for the lucid and passionate eloquence of the writing as well as their sexual (mostly homosexual) explicitness, the stories combine emotional intensity with psychological insight and a rare wit. Wells, Peter (1950–2019), won the New Zealand and Reed awards for fiction with his first short story collection, Dangerous Desires (1991). ![]() ![]() FROM THE OXFORD COMPANION TO NEW ZEALAND LITERATURE ![]()
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