Deirdre Roelants report -
This annual Festival celebrating
books and ideas has a growing national audience. This year’s programme
showcased twenty three international writers alongside more than ninety New
Zealanders in sessions covering everything from serious fiction to popular
reads, poetry and spoken word performances, science, history, religion,
biography, food and wine, film, art, music and fashion.
The highly successful ‘True Stories
Told Live’ format, developed by the NZ Book Council, returned to launch this
year’s Festival at the New Zealand Listener Gala Night on Thursday 10 May. A
number of this year’s stellar guests delivered an hour and half of live and
true storytelling that was MC’d by Carol Hirschfeld who is no stranger
to New Zealand’s television audience.
Carole
Beu’s life is immersed in the world of books and reading. She is
the owner of The Women’s Bookshop on Ponsonby Road, a member of the board of
Booksellers New Zealand and a trustee of the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival. Carol
also regularly reviews books on the radio and for Triangle Television’s Let’s
Talk programme.
Ian Wedde has published dozens of works
including collections of poetry, novels, art catalogues, and a monograph on the
artist Bill Culbert. As New Zealand’s current Poet Laureate he promotes the
reading and writing of poetry to both children and adults. He contributed to
the Festival’s schools programme and
participated in the Hone Tuwhare tribute.
Albert Wendt, novelist, poet, short story writer,
playwright and painter, is Emeritus Professor of English at The University of
Auckland and he also joined other poets in the tribute to Hone Tuwhare,
our best loved poet ever.
Finlay Macdonald is a widely respected contributor to various newspapers and
publications around the country. He is the former editor of the Listener
and commissioning editor for Penguin Books, and now writes columns, and social
commentary. Greg McGee talked with him about his genre-wide writing for the
screen, stage and page. Finlay also spoke with Jesmyn Ward who the ‘Publishers
Weekly’ has labelled “a refreshing new voice in American
literature.
Brian
Edwards is one of New Zealand’s most respected broadcasters and
writers. His career spans every branch of the media - columnist, author, radio
and television interviewer, media commentator and consultant. ‘An evening with
Roddy Doyle‘ would have had to be the highlight of the Festival when Brian
joined the famous Irish writer for readings and conversation.
No
book festival would be complete without book blogger supremo, Graham
Beattie’s input. Graham is a full-time book blogger and reviewer following
a highly successful career as a publisher. His blog is one of the country’s
most read, receiving in excess of 10,000 visitors a week. He talked
to award-winning crime writer, Peter James about the author’s successful career
whose books have sold more than eleven million copies worldwide.
Stephanie
Johnson is the author of two collections of poetry, three collections
of short stories and nine novels. She is a founding trustee of the
Auckland Writers & Readers Festival, and its acting artistic director. Her
latest book, The Open World was published in April 2012. Stephanie chaired
a session with Charlotte Wood, a rising star of Australian fiction. Charlotte
also writes a popular food blog and has just published a book of food writing,
‘Love and Hunger’.
For
the Sunday Gallery Series, award winning journalist, Josie McNaught introduced,
Dick Frizzell and Doris De Pont. Dick guided the audience through a
selection of paintings from his book ‘It’s all about the Image’ and explained
why they have resonated with him. Doris provided an illustrated romp through
the history of iconic black outfits throughout New Zealand fashion from the
pioneering women of The Piano era, to sports teams, the Fred Dagg singlet and
leading contemporary designers.
Jenny
Carlyon has worked as an independent historian on a variety of projects.
She is the co-author with Diana Morrow of ‘Urban Village: A History of
Ponsonby, Freemans Bay and St Mary’s Bay’. Jenny
presented a session on their more recent book ‘A Fine Prospect: A
History of Remuera, Meadowbank and St Johns’.
So there we have it, a run-down on
eleven local residents from Ponsonby’s wider area who contributed to one of New
Zealand’s major cultural events. (DEIRDRE ROELANTS)
P O Box 47-282,
Ponsonby, Auckland, NZ.
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