NZ AUTHOR ORGANISES BOOK CLUB ON PACIFIC CRUISE


On Thursday afternoon Auckland author Graeme Lay will set sail on the P&O liner Pacific Sun, for a three-week cruise around the South Pacific.


Late last year Graeme noticed an advertisement for this cruise, which is entitled 'Tahitian Treasures'. He took particular note because his book In Search of Paradise - Artists and Writers in the colonial South Pacific (Random House) had just been published, and several of the ship's ports-of-call featured in the book. These included Tongatapu, Vava'u (Tonga), Rarotonga, Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora, Apia (Samoa) and Savusavu and Suva (Fiji).

Reckoning that at least some of the passengers would be interested in doing something during the cruise apart from playing roulette and deck quoits, or making macarame and jewellery, Graeme contacted P&O and offered to give lectures on board during the voyage, on the history and culture of the South Pacific, a region through which he has travelled widely and written about extensively.

P&O not only agreed to his suggestion, they asked Graeme to also run an onboard book club, which they are calling 'Chapters'. Among the books the group will be reading and discussing will include The Miss Tutti Frutti Contest (Awa Press), his collection of travel stories, his novel Alice & Luigi (David Ling) and In Search of Paradise.

Graeme will be reporting here on Beattie's Book Blog from the high seas from time to time, on the progress of the voyage and the state of the ship's book lovers.

Sail well Graeme, have fun, and best wishes for the book club.