New line-up for Writers on Mondays - July to September

Questions of travel, life and love, answers from the imagination: new line-up for Writers on Mondays

Writers on Mondays 2015 brings together a line-up of exciting new and established talents to showcase what’s happening in the world of writing.

Headlining Victoria University of Wellington’s International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) 2015 season is award-winning Australian author Michelle de Kretser.

Director of IIML Professor Damien Wilkins says the combination of new voices and established writers as part of Writers on Mondays is wonderful.

“This series is a brilliant fixture on the literary calendar.”

The Writers on Mondays programme runs from 13 July to 28 September. Sessions are from 12.15–1.15pm at Te Papa, in Te Marae, Level 4, Te Papa.

The programme kicks off in style with Poet Laureate Vincent O’Sullivan in conversation with Fergus Barrowman about Being There, which spans his illustrious career in poetry and includes brand new work.

The following Monday two debut poets, Morgan Bach and John Dennison, and seasoned professional David Beach, discuss their new collections with poet Cliff Fell.

On 27 July Rachel Barrowman, in conversation with Bill Manhire, talks about one of New Zealand’s best loved authors who is the subject of her new biography Maurice Gee: Life and Works.

Next, Anna Smaill—whose debut novel The Chimes has been acclaimed as a work of ‘incredible imagination’—appears alongside Victoria University/Creative New Zealand Writer in Residence Tim Corballis, whose hot-off-the-press book R.H.I. marks a welcome addition to the novella form.

The next week draws out visual pleasures as artist John Reynolds and designer and author Sarah Laing discuss their illustrations in two recent Te Papa Press publications.

Earthquakes and endurance are tested in Hamish Clayton’s eagerly awaited The Pale North and David Coventry’s first novel The Invisible Mile, in a session chaired by Harry Ricketts.

August wouldn’t be the same without National Poetry Day (August 28). Writers on Mondays starts the celebrations early with the annual Best New Zealand Poetry reading on 24 August. Professor Damien Wilkins will MC this lively session.

The next week welcomes another of Aotearoa’s seminal writers: Witi Ihimaera, in conversation with novelist Tina Makereti.

And September shines with international guest. The IIML are delighted to present Michelle de Kretser, whose recent novel Questions of Travel won the Miles Franklin Award and the Australian Prime Minister’s Award for fiction. This session is chaired by Emily Perkins.

The full 2015 Writers on Mondays programme appears below. The programme can also be viewed and downloaded from Victoria’s website. Admission is free and all are welcome.

Writers on Mondays is presented by Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and additional support from Circa Theatre. Michelle de Kretser’s visit is funded by the IIML.

For more information contact Therese Lloyd on therese.lloyd@vuw.ac.nz or modernletters@vuw.ac.nz

Writers on Mondays Programme 2015

13 July

In the company of a master: Vincent O’Sullivan

We kick off our 2015 programme in grand style with one of New Zealand’s finest. Poet Laureate Vincent O’Sullivan’s impressive writing career includes poetry, biography, novels, plays and short stories. His recent publication Being Here is the first to survey the entire span of O’Sullivan’s poetry, from 1973’s Bearings to new poems first published in this volume. Join us as O’Sullivan and longtime publisher and friend Fergus Barrowman take a journey back through an illustrious writing career, discussing favourite themes and preoccupations, recent work, and the public role of poetry.

20 July

Beach, Bach and Beyond!: Three Poets

Come and hear the latest in poetry, in a reading and discussion chaired by poet Cliff Fell. David Beach’s fourth collection, Jerusalem Sonnets, Love, Wellington Zoo, tackles, amongst other things, the inescapable presence of James K. Baxter for any sonnet writer. Morgan Bach’s debut, Some of Us Eat the Seeds, welcomes a refreshing new voice that is in turns witty and sharp-edged. The international publication of Otherwise, John Dennison’s first collection, heralds a new, vivid and sensual voice in the New Zealand (and UK) poetry scene.

27 July

Gee and Me: Rachel Barrowman

Historian Rachel Barrowman’s biography Mason: the Life of R.A.K Mason won the biography category of the 2004 Montana Book Awards and received a wealth of critical praise. Her new book takes on another key literary figure in New Zealand. Maurice Gee: Life and Works is the product of nearly 10 years’ research, and is the first major biography of one of our most highly esteemed writers. In discussion with Bill Manhire, Barrowman will shed light on Gee’s influences, the work that went into making the Plumb trilogy, Prowlers and other New Zealand classics, the process of writing a life, and why it is that writers make such compelling subjects.

3 August

The Talking Cure or Chiming In: Anna Smaill and Tim Corballis

Victoria University of Wellington/Creative New Zealand 2015 Writer in Residence Tim Corballis shares the stage with fellow novelist Anna Smaill. Smaill’s debut novel The Chimes has been described as a ‘startlingly original work that combines beautiful, inventive prose with incredible imagination’. Hot off the press, Corballis’s latest work is R.H.I., two novellas that make an inadvertent history of the European twentieth century, seen through the lenses of psychoanalysis and communism. Emily Perkins will chair what promises to be a lively and fascinating session.

10 August

Picture This: John Reynolds & Sarah Laing

Te Papa Press has an extensive catalogue of beautiful books on Aotearoa/ New Zealand’s art, culture and natural world. This session celebrates the illustrators who bring so much to the life of books. Sarah Laing is both a successful novelist and designer. She recently illustrated The Curioseum: Collected Stories of the Odd and Marvellous. Renowned visual artist John Reynolds is famous for his extraordinary work Cloud, consisting of over 7,000 word canvases. He provided the illustrations for the Book of New Zealand Words. This session will be chaired by poet and artist Greg O’Brien.

17 August

Riding the Ruins: David Coventry and Hamish Clayton

Winner of the 2012 Best First Book for fiction, Hamish Clayton’s novel Wulf weaves a poetic narrative through a recasting of the story of Te Rauparaha’s 1831 raid, and was described as ‘packed with challenge and virtuosity’. In this session we hear about Clayton’s new novel The Pale North, a meditation on love, history, creativity and loss, set in Wellington in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. David Coventry’s first novel was released in June. The Invisible Mile is a powerful re-imagining of the 1928 Ravat-Wonder Team, the first English-speaking team to attempt the Tour de France. The writers will be in discussion with poet and editor Harry Ricketts.

24 August

Best New Zealand Poems 2014

Best New Zealand Poems is an annual online publication by Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters. Get ready for National Poetry Day (on 28 August) by coming along to hear eight of these poets read the work chosen by the 2014 editor, Poet Laureate Vincent O’Sullivan. The full selection of poems can be viewed online. The readers are: John Dennison, Dinah Hawken, Anna Jackson, Greg O'Brien, Claire Orchard, Nina Powles, Helen Rickerby, Kerrin P Sharpe. Introduced by Damien Wilkins.

31 August

Writing Time: Witi Ihimaera

We’re delighted to present celebrated author Witi Ihimaera in conversation with rising novelist and short story writer Tina Makereti. Ihimaera is joint recipient of the Randell Cottage residency for 2015 (along with Owen Marshall), taking over from Makereti who held the residency last year. While at Randell Cottage, Ihimaera will work on the second part of his three-volume memoir, Native Son. Ihimaera will discuss his current work in progress, writing imaginative history, and the impact and importance of writers’ residencies in this country.

7 September

Questions of Travel: Michelle de Kretser

It is our great pleasure to announce the Wellington visit of eminent Australian novelist Michelle de Kretser, author of four acclaimed novels including The Lost Dog and most recently Questions of Travel, winner of the Miles Franklin Award and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for fiction. This mesmerising literary novel enthrals and enchants the reader as it shines a searching gaze on national identity, restlessness, dispossession and home. Come and hear more from de Kretser’s questing imagination. Chaired by Emily Perkins. Michelle de Kretser’s visit is funded by Victoria University of Wellington’s International Institute of Modern Letters.

14 September

The Next Page 1

A wonderful opportunity to hear a fresh mix of poetry and prose by the current cohort of writers at the Masters in Creative Writing Programme at the International Institute of Modern Letters. Sarah Webster, Tom Nieuwland du Chatenier, Alexandra Hollis, Helen Crampton, Louise Wrightson, Meryl Richards, Simon Thomas, Whitney Cox, Alisha Tyson and Nick Bollinger are introduced by Emily Perkins.

21 September

The Next Page 2 and Short Sharp Script 1

Part two of the popular Next Page sessions features readings from Catherine Robertson, Samantha Keenan, Justine Jungersen-Smith, Helen Hunter, Johnny McCaughan, Nina Powles, Redmer Yska, Libby Farris, Jane Arthur and Louise Compagnone. Introduced by Cliff Fell.

Short Sharp Script 1: Circa Theatre 1.30-2.30pm

Follow us across the road to Circa Theatre, where actors will perform dynamic new work by MA scriptwriting students from the International Institute of Modern Letters: Greg Bennett, David Brechin-Smith, Ali Burns and James Cain. This session takes place at the special time of 1.30pm.

28 September

Short Sharp Script 2: Circa Theatre 12.15-1.15pm

More exciting work in progress from the second group of scriptwriters from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Circa at the usual time of 12.15pm: Rose Cann, Ryan Knighton, Matthew Loveranes, Niki Partsch and Finn Teppett.

The programme can also be viewed and downloaded from Victoria’s website.