Literary aficionados – your chance to delve further into the 2008 Montana New Zealand Book Awards

The Museum of Wellington is pleased to offer you an opportunity to hear more from the judges and finalists of the 2008 Montana New Zealand Book Awards at a lively literary event, this Thursday 7 August at 7.30pm.

In the spirit of frank discussion Lynn Freeman and Tim Corballis will discuss the busy six month process of judging this year’s competition.

Joining them will be three of the finalists and winners: Mary McCallum, Gregory O’Brien and Johanna Aitchison.

Each author will give readings from their work and discuss the meaning of the awards to them as writers, and then all panellists will participate in a discussion about the issues and their experiences of the awards.

The floor will then be opened for audience members to both contribute and hear more about issues raised throughout the evening. We hope you can join us for what promises to be an insightful and expansive conversation on New Zealand writing at the Museum of Wellington.

Mary McCallum won the Readers' Choice Award and NZSA Hubert Church Best First Book Award for Fiction for her novel The Blue, and was also a finalist for the Ficton Award. Gregory O'Brien won the Reference & Anthology Award for A Nest of Singing Birds: 100 years of the New Zealand School Journal and was also a finalist in the Illustrative category for Aberhart with Laurence Aberhart and Justin Paton. Johanna Aitchison was a finalist in the Poetry category with A Long Girl Ago.

Museum of Wellington, Queens Wharf

Thursday 7 August, 7:30pm – 9:00pm

For further information please email melanie.hamilton@wmt.org.nz

or visit: http://www.museumofwellington.co.nz/