BAM! – a celebration of books, art and music - Speed date your favourite AUP author

Have you ever wanted to get up close and personal with your best-loved author? Now you can at a special event to be held at the Gus Fisher Gallery at The University of Auckland, ahead of the New Zealand Post Book Awards.

BAM! – a celebration of books, art and music is an opportunity for the public to “speed date” their favourite Auckland University Press author. Join Karl Stead, Marti Friedlander, Greg O’Brien, Dave Veart, Fiona Farrell (right), Joanne Drayton, Peter Simpson and Julia Gatley for this all-day book fair, featuring readings, book signings and plenty of opportunity for one-on-one. To set the mood there will also be performances from jazz students at The University of Auckland’s School of Music. 

Authors “speed date” sessions are:

10.30am Karl Stead

11.30am Marti Friedlander

12.30pm Greg O'Brien

1pm Dave Veart

1.30pm Fiona Farrell

2pm Joanne Drayton

2.30pm Peter Simpson

3pm Julia Gatley

Start your Saturday with coffee and pastries followed by readings from poet Karl Stead at 10.30am, followed by a conversation between photographer Marti Friedlander and her husband Gerrard Friedlander and author Len Bell at 11.30am.

Greg O’Brien will read at 12.30pm. O’Brien’s book on the work of illustrator, Graham Percy (coincidentally, the late husband of Mari Mahr) is shortlisted in the Illustrated Non-Fiction category for the New Zealand Post Book Awards. In the afternoon, David Veart author of Digging Up the Past: Archaeology for the Young and Curious and First Catch Your Weka: A Story of New Zealand Cooking, will be available for a “speed date” at 1pm, followed at 1.30pm by a reading by Fiona Farrell, who is shortlisted in the General Non-Fiction category for The Broken Book, her book of essays and poems about the Christchurch earthquake. 


 At 2pm, it’s Joanne Drayton, whose book The Search for Anne Perry, published by HarperCollins is released in New Zealand on Friday 27 July, is already heralded as a breakthrough in biographical studies.Photo left shows Joanne Drayton with Anne Perry, photo from the book.


At 2.30pm, Associate Professor Peter Simpson will appear, followed by architectural historian Dr Julia Gatley at 3pm. 

Copies of the Auckland University Press publications by these writers will be available for signature and sale.

BAM! – a celebration of books, arts and music takes place on Saturday 28 July from 10am-4pm at the Gus Fisher Gallery, 74 Shortland Street, Auckland.

For more details, visit www.gusfishergallery.auckland.ac.nz

The University of Auckland’s National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries comprises the School of Architecture and Planning, Elam School of Fine Arts, the Centre for Art Research (CAR), the School of Music and the Dance Studies Programme.

All exhibitions and events are free and take place at the Gus Fisher Gallery unless otherwise noted.

THE GUS FISHER GALLERY                             GALLERY HOURS
The Kenneth Myers Centre                                Tuesday - Friday 10am - 5pm
74 Shortland St                                               Saturday 12pm - 4pm
Auckland, New Zealand                                    Closed Public Holidays
Telephone: 923 6646                                       (Closed Queens Birthday – 2 to 4 June)
www.gusfishergallery.auckland.ac.nz