MEMBERS NZ SOCIETY OF AUTHORS CELEBRATE AT PARLIAMENT

Report from Maggie Rainey-Smith, author and Chair Wellington Branch NZSA.

Last weekend was a very special occasion for members of the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN New Zealand Inc).

We celebrated our 75th anniversary in style with the National AGM hosted in the old legislative chamber at Parliament, courtesy of the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, the Honourable Chris Finlayson, with writers from all around New Zealand in attendance.

Friday evening, writers from many different parts of New Zealand gathered for drinks and literary networking on the 4th floor of the Museum Hotel. We had a view of the yachts moored at Port Nicholson being tossed around on the waves and the sound of the wind whistling; a perfect Wellington welcome. The evening included a tribute and farewell to Dawn Sanders our acting National President and Vice President as well as the launch of Philip Temple’s memoir, generously supported in person by Harriet Allan of Random House.

The writers’ who’s who on Friday night included Lloyd Jones, Denis Welch, Dame Fiona Kidman, Barbara and Chris Else, Diane Brown, Joanna Woods. Frances Cherry, Pippa Werry and on the walls to remind us were photographs of those who attended the very first PEN meeting – Eileen Duggan, Pat Lawlor, Jane Mander, G. H. Scholefield, Johannes C. Anderson and T. Lindsay Buick.

On the Saturday morning some of us dressed up in 1930’s style for the National AGM and it was a most successful occasion followed by a celebratory lunch at the Backbencher and then a plaque crawl around the Writers’ Walk on the beautiful sunny Wellington waterfront (yes, Wellington came up trumps).

At the AGM, Maggie Tarver, the CEO of NZSA talked us through the new NZSA website, launched this week, which will allow writers to upload their own profiles, promote their new work and provide links to their own websites. Details of the AGM will be posted on the new website. What an incentive to join up now!
And then on the Saturday evening we had a festive diner at the Museum Hotel and were entertained by none other than the local Hutt Valley lad, now becoming an international literary star, Bernard Beckett – passionate story-teller, and science man, modest, enthusiastic, and highly entertaining, followed by a literary quiz that generated fierce competition and plenty of fun.
Sunday dawned with yet another full programme starting out on the Wellington side of the harbour following Kevin Boon on the trail of Katherine Mansfield, and then a trip on the East West ferry to Days Bay to resume the pilgrimage to our beloved Katherine, led this time by Don Long - the highlight of which was generous access to the Beauchamp House where Katherine holidayed and arguable from where she based her “At the Bay”… we gazed in awe at what was perhaps the original wash-house. It was shivers down the spine stuff. Our very own literary shrine. Historians evidently disagree about which particular bay it really was (Days Bay/Rona Bay), but we all agreed, it didn’t really matter, and that probably they had morphed in her imagination into one. Don who is also a terrific researcher and story-teller regaled us with tales of writers who have lived in the Bay (and some of us who still do).

The Wellington Branch of NZSA hosted the AGM and can I say proudly, we did a grand job. We have a great committee of generous hardworking writers (including the sub committee of the Wellington Writers’ Walk) and I for one am proud to be a part of it all. If you’re not a member, go and take a peek now at the new website http://www.authors.org.nz/, and maybe now is a good time to join.