Water worlds

begins with Wellington literary scholar Ingrid Horrocks recounting a solo journey she took in autumn 2017 – a long weekend over which she planned to swim her way from Wellington to Auckland, stopping here and there on a road trip to immerse herself in Aotearoa’s still-swimmable waters. Before reaching Auckland, Horrocks abandons the organising principle of the genre that she seems to be working inside. The genealogical ties that this memoir shares was published in 1999 are adjusted to produce a narrative that is less linear or goal-focused than some of its predecessors, and more subtle and indeterminate.