Prizewinning Kiwi author Lloyd Jones in Papua New Guinea to promote reading and oral history in both pidgin and English
David Cohen,Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 29 June 2010
Author Lloyd Jones Photograph: Michael Danner for the Observer
A New Zealand author who went from relative literary obscurity to being a frontrunner for the Man Booker Prize in 2007 has established a novel development project.
Lloyd Jones, whose Mister Pip sold 300,000 copies in Britain after it reached the Booker shortlist, is hoping to arouse similar enthusiasm for his venture in support of the real-life inhabitants of the island where his novel was set.
His Bougainville Library Trust has already made links with local people to help them plan, build, stock and fundraise for a community library – Jones calls it a "temple for story" – in Arawa, the largest settlement on Bougainville, an autonomous island that is within the political fold of Papua New Guinea.
Also planned is a cultural centre to house field notes from visiting scholars and historical materials from institutions around the region.
A site for the solar-powered library, which will include a stage for performance, a room for carvings and space for housing old and new recordings of stories, songs and oral histories, has been provided and architectural plans are being made.
The project, which is being administered through a dedicated website, is supported by volunteer agencies in Bougainville and New Zealand. Besides the £150,000 ($224,740) they want to raise to help build and stock the library – and replenish its books, which will deteriorate faster than usual because of the tropical air – a further £25,000 is to be earmarked for collecting local stories.
The full story here.
See account of NZ launch story on 31 March on blog here.
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