Biggest
programme of Writers & Readers ever for 2013 Festival
Tauranga Arts Festival has prepared the
largest programme of writers ever. Book lovers, writers, and festival
supporters gathered together at Books a Plenty last Thursday for an in-depth look
into the sessions in store from Thursday 31 October – Sunday 3 November at the
TV3 Crystal Palace. Graeme Simsion joined the crowd via video to say he is
looking forward to joining Tauranga audiences and that he hopes someone will
ask him what his favourite passages are from his best-selling novel, The Rosie Project. The programme was
revealed to be a journey exciting enough to satisfy the most ardent readers, as
authors from New Zealand and overseas will join Radio New Zealand presenter,
Lynn Freeman, to discuss a vast range of subjects – from the complexities of
Love to the existence of God.
A new event called The Book Club starts the
four-day programme with an intimate evening with Graeme Simsion (The Rosie Project), Julie Thomas (The Keeper of Secrets), Paul Moon (Encounters: the Creation of New Zealand),
Tanya Moir (La Rochelle’s Road),
Elizabeth Knox (The Vintner’s Luck),
Fergus Barrowman (Victoria University Press) and Lynn Freeman. Held at Trinity
Wharf it is a unique opportunity to hear writers talk about such things as
their own reading list, secret word-related habits, and they will have
questions of their own to ask the audience.
The
Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion is one of the hit
novels of 2013. It started life as a screenplay before being published in
January and translated into many languages. Graeme talks with Julie Thomas
(author of hit novel, The Keeper of
Secrets) and Lynn Freeman on Thursday 31 October and on Friday 1 November.
Friday 1 November will see the launch of
Elizabeth Knox’s new work, Wake,
a novel about what it means to try to do
your best and the consequences of keeping promises. Festival organisers are delighted to present
this highly anticipated event celebrating one of our most inventive writers.
It is expected that there won’t be a seat
spare in the TV3 Crystal Palace on Sunday 3 November from 10am – 11am when Sir
Lloyd Geering takes the stage to discuss his latest book, From the Big Bang to God. More than 1200 flocked to see Sir Lloyd
at the Auckland Readers & Writers festival earlier in the year.
Other highlights include New Zealand Post
Book Award Winner Steve Braunias who will talk with Sandra Simpson (the
festival Literary Programmer) about Civilisation:
Twenty Places on the Edge of the World. Steve spent three years "going places no one went to, drawn to their banal
and exhilarating New Zealandness" where he met
good people, observed bird life, drank in pubs and wrote about it all in a
collection that illuminates places and people rarely observed as acutely and
honestly as Braunias has done.
Australian author Rob Mundle continues the
concept of exploration as he discusses his life as a biographer of William
Bligh, Matthew Flinders and Cook, his
international best-seller Fatal Storm,
and his life as an award-winning sailor himself.
From traversing the high seas to navigating
the complexities of the mind: Professor Michael Corballis’s session based on
his book Pieces of Mind: 21 Short Walks
Around the Brain will be a fascinating hour unpacking such things as telepathy,
memory, swearing and alternative medicine. And from one Professor to another,
Prof. Paul Moon, whose latest book, Encounters:
The Creation of New Zealand is described as ‘lyrical, breathtaking and
provocative’, will exlpore the idea of what makes us who we are as New
Zealanders – art to landscape, myth to facts of history … an hour to absorb
every kiwi.
A
further new element to the Writers & Readers programme – and an early hit
of thought-provoking discussion – is the ‘Place Making and Urban Renewal Forum’
hosted by Stufkens + Chambers Architects at the TV3 Crystal Palace on Friday 25
October, 12noon – 1.30pm. This is a free event and a chance to enjoy lunch
alongside expert views on invigorating our living spaces.
Visit www.taurangafestival.co.nz/writers
for the full Writers & Readers programme, part of the Tauranga Arts
Festival, which runs from 24 October – 3 November.
About
Tauranga Arts Festival:
Tauranga Arts
Festival is governed by the Tauranga Arts Festival Trust and the Board chaired
by Glenn Dougal. Trustees are Rhonda Hewlett, Sue Hoffart, Kathryn Lellman,
Debby Meldrum, Jon Murie, Bob Sutton and Theresa Tingey.
Tauranga Arts
Festival would like to acknowledge the support of major funders TECT; gold
sponsors: Port of Tauranga, Stufkens + Chambers Architects, Trinity Wharf
Tauranga; gold media sponsors: The Radio Network, Bay of Plenty Times, TV3, Mediaworks; silver
sponsors ANZ Private, NZET, Ronayne Hollister-Jones Lellman; and major grants
from Tauranga City Council and Creative New Zealand. They are joined by a
further 80 generous bronze sponsors, business and private patrons. For the full
list see www.taurangafestival.co.nz
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