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MKWC Newsletter August
2014
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 Be in quick if you are interested in having a momento from the old Takapuna Library. These beautiful pohutukawa carpet tiles salvaged from the library have been cleaned and are on sale as a fundraiser for the Michael King Writers’ Centre. The striking carpet tiles were were lifted recently as part of a major refurbishment. Each pohutukawa flower is made up of four carpet tiles, which together measure one square metre. We have just 30 flowers to sell at $35 each, including GST. This great fundraising idea was developed by the Devonport Friends group and the steam cleaning was done by a volunteer. While it was sad to see the pohutukawa flowers go from the Takapuna library, the refurbished library is airy, spacious and very appealing. The wonderful Angela Morton Collection, a reference collection of books and other materials covering the visual arts of New Zealand from pre-European times to the present day, has a big space in the new library and it is very hard to leave. Meantime, thanks to ongoing funding from Creative New Zealand, we will be calling for applications for our 2015 residency programme very soon. Watch this space! Best regards Karren Beanland Manager |
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 Our
current writer in residence is Anne Kennedy. Anne has had success in every
genre she tackles - fiction, poetry and film. Her latest volume of
poetry The
Darling North won its category in the 2013 NZ Post Book Awards.
Her latest novel The Last
Days of the National Costume is a finalist in the fiction
category of this year’s awards, which will be announced in Wellington on
Thursday August 27. While she holds the six-month University of Auckland
residency, she is working on her next novel. Anne took part in a popular In Conversation event
with Iain Sharp at the centre at the weekend. This winter’s series of In Conversation events
have been a great success and the Devonport Friends group is keen to continue
them next year. We have enjoyed conversations between Peter Wells and Shonagh
Koea, Joanne Drayton and Linda Tyler and, last month, Gaylene Preston and
Deborah Shepard. The sessions are held in the lounge of the Michael King
Writers’ Centre, usually the last Sunday of each month. |
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 Deborah Shepard ran a series of master classes on memoir earlier in the year and will launch a new series of writing classes in memoir in September. The new series will run for six weeks and is an introduction to writing memoir, pitched at people who are new to writing or perhaps less confident about their ability. Meantime the centre has been continuing its outreach programmes for young writers. Our wonderful creative writing tutors, Ros Ali and Jo Emeney, have been running the Young Writers Programme for Year 11 to 13 Auckland students nominated by their schools, with a great offering of workshops and master classes. Two workshops focused on the media, with Simon Wilson, Vaughn Davis, Steve Braunias and Ted Dawe; one was on lyrics with Annie Crummer and Mike Chunn; there have been two master classes featuring Anne Kennedy and Paula Morris.
There is one more master class to come, with Charlotte
Grimshaw. Of course, at the end of the year we look forward to the
publication of the third issue of Signals,
featuring the work of the young writers. The Young Writers Programme is
available thanks to a grant from Creative New Zealand.
 We
have also been running The Poetry Project again for primary and intermediate
students, with 20 workshops in schools including Birkdale Primary, Birkenhead
Primary, Birkenhead Intermediate, Kelston Intermediate, Glenbrae School and
several at the Southern Cross campus. This year the programme was funded by a
grant from the Auckland Council. Grace Taylor and Daren Kamali are the poets
who have been involved in the sessions this year, and they have been a huge
hit with the students. Daren has since been chosen for the prestigious Iowa
Residency. Follow us on Facebook to see the wonderful photos from these
workshops. Ros and Jo’s great work with the young writers has been recognised
by the Auckland Council, which asked them to lead a new workshop series for
young immigrant writers, New
Kiwi Voices, with its own special publication. Lynn Dawson, the
chair of the Devonport Friends group, has also been taking Real Writing workshops
for new writers in the community, with the support of local boards on the
North Shore. |
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 We
are busy organising the sixth in our series of major annual residential
workshops for writers, and this year the topic is publishing. Publishing Now will be
held at the beautiful Vaughan Park retreat in Long Bay. Publishing is
going through a period of major change and many writers find it a difficult
field to navigate. We have got an incredible group of publishers and
publishing experts lined up for the workshop, which is designed to help
writers get a detailed understanding about what's happening in the world of
publishing, from traditional publishing to self-publishing and digital
publishing, as well as book sales and everything else to do with publishing.
It will be held from November 1 to 3, thanks to a grant from the ASB
Community Trust. Places are still available, so please contact us if you have
an interest at workshop@writerscentre.org.nz |
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Congratulations to Tracey Farr |
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 Congratulations
to Wellington-based writer Tracy Farr, whose first novel, The Lives and Loves of Lena Gaunt,
has had tremendous success in Australia. Earlier this year it was long-listed
for the prestigious Miles Franklin Award and now it is on the short list for
the Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards, alongside works by leading
Australian writers Alex Miller, Richard Flanagan and Tim Winton. Tracy worked
on the manuscript of her book as a visiting writer at the Michael King
Writers’ Centre way back in 2009, so we are thrilled at her success. |
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News and Notes:
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who make this
project possible.
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Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.
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