Pounamu's reflections is a collection of two novellas about

how geographic distance brings human beings closer together.

From afar, from farthest away, we see better what is essential in life.

In "The last letter", the first novella, a father writes to his children

who have gone to live at the other end of the world.

He presents his feelings, his thoughts and sums up his life's journey

for them. With a pure and sincere love he writes one last time to his

children. "The last letter" is the final expression of the esteem, respect,

hope, and affection that a father gives to his children, the final proof

of his love before he goes to count the stars.

In the second novella "The table of Saturday philosophers" we

glimpse in small touches the feelings of a group of wounded men and

women that destiny has brought together under the charm of Nelson

life. Their quest is to find themselves, to find new hope, a new life, a

new way of forgetting, to find love and friendship that has either been

lost or never lived. "The table of Saturday philosophers" demonstrates

clearly that without love, life is an empty shell that slowly

disintegrates under the sun, wind and rain of Pounamu.

With each tide hope is reborn on the edge of the waves, and with the

passage of time the eternal cycle of life delivers harsh truths about

love that unites without separating.

It also shows the enriched lives of island-dwellers who are so far and

yet so close to the truth of the world.