GOING WEST - Murray Gray reports

Going West, the Books and Writers weekend, shortened by the RWC to two days. But what a weekend!. September 10 and 11.  Some highlights:

-Eat, celebrate, laugh! 

Nostalgia reigns as we embrace the classic narrative of food, family and company with Natalie Oldfield, as she pays tribute to her grandmother Dulcie May Brooker in Gran's Family Table. 

-Owen Marshall's first historical novel, The Larnachs, looks beyond the dominating presence of William Larnach to the love affair between his third wife and his favourite son. Graham Beattie in the chair.

 -Landfall in Unknown Seas. We honour the centenary of Allan Curnow's birth with an extended session of poetry and commentary including The Curnow Reading: David Eggleton reads from new work and some Whim Wham from Stuart Devinie

-More than Somewhat. A lively discussion on the joys and terrors of 'living on the deadline' between columnists Deborah Hill-Cone, Jane Bowron with Steve Braunias.

-Indie Films Down Under! John Barnett, visionary CEO of South Pacific Films, has a sure instinct for stories that resonate with moviegoers. The recent production of Roseanne Liang's film 'My Weddingand Other Secrets' is testament to that.

-Angels on a Pin Head .This anthology of fifty pieces of beautifully chosen science writing, edited by Rebecca Priestley, is the first collection of its kind. She dissects her book, The Awa Book of Science, with Auckland epidemiologist, Andrew Jull.

-Walking With McCahon. In 1984, on a trip to Sydney for the opening of a major retrospective exhibition of his work, Colin McCahon went missing. In Dark Night: Walking With McCahon, Martin Edmond treads an imagined path searching not for authenticity but for Colin's 'dark night of the soul'

-Nothing But the Facts Ma'am. Are forensic scientists the crime-solving sleuths of television fame? Anna Sandiford reveals the real-life world of the forensic scientist; detailed, painstaking and persistent.

-An Incorrigible Music. Christchurch has taught us that we do indeed live in 'the shaky isles'. As Aucklanders we share the ever present possibility of natural disaster. Bruce Hayward introduces the very timely 'Volcanoes of Auckland', a study of the fragile crust on which we live out our daily lives.

-An Hour with the Don. Some talk; some song; as Don McGlashan takes the stage with Titirangi Music Festival director, David Parker. 

-Playing With Fire: The Auckland Studio Potters Society turns 50.Peter Lange will wax eloquent on this celebration of the wonderful and exciting sub-culture of 50 years of studio ceramics in Auckland.

  

-You Will Know when You Get There. The Violinist charts the incredible story of Clare Galambos-Winter, holocaust survivor, musician and lover of life. Author Sarah Gaitanos has laced impeccable research with the fragile memories of a survivor as she finds landfall in New Zealand  

 -Humming the hymn of it's finished, to the tune of it's just begun .   Spiro Zavos, who knows more about rugby than most, will explain the subtle global power play that we call rugby. In 'How to Watch the Rugby World Cup' he explores the tournaments powerful players, speed-charged runs, soaring kicks, brutal scrums and controversial refereeing decisions that will grip this country and the world come September.

-New Zealand by Design: a History of New Zealand Product Design. Who designed the 'buzzy bee'? Author Michael Smythe explodes some of the myths surrounding our most loved design icons.

All this in September in Titrirangi War Memorial Hall.

This one for Dee.

There are more events to be shared at Going West. 

Event Guide out now or go to: www.goingwest.co.nz.

Murray Gray. gonewestbooks.com
Programme Director. Going West Books & Writers