Standing Room Only

Radio with pictures... and arts, theatre, film, comedy, books, dance, entertainment and music.

This week's stories A Right Royal Raj Epic - Prayas Theatre Company [gallery:4350] Indian theatre company Prayas' Sananda Chatterjee and Amit Ohdedar are the directors of Dara which opens at Auckland's TAPAC. It's 1659 in the imperial court in Mughal India, a place of opulence and excess, with two brothers, whose mother's death inspired the Taj Mahal, fighting ferociously for succession. Its an epic production with a large cast. Jun 10, 2018 02:37 pm Are Friends Electric? Poet Helen Heath June 2018 on Standing Room Only we are featuring a series of interviews by Mark Amery with New Zealand poets with new books just out. Our first is with Wellington poet Helen Heath whose second book of poetry Are Friends Electric? is being released this week by Victoria University Press. Jun 10, 2018 02:27 pm A 1970's New Zealand Cherry Orchard - Philippa Campbell [gallery:4353] Auckland Theatre Company's new production is Anton Chekov's much loved The Cherry Orchard, but its been adapted to New Zealand during the 1970s, and ther3 are four adapters, including director Colin McColl and the ATC's Literary Manager Philippa Campbell. Jun 10, 2018 01:47 pm A South Auckland Homecoming - Aloali'i Tapu [gallery:4351] Bringing together the hip hop he grew up with in Otara and the contemporary dance he came to as an adult, young dynamo dancer Aloali'i Tapu has for the last three years divided his time between Auckland and Berlin working with one of Berlin's leading choreographers and with companies here. Jun 10, 2018 01:33 pm Walter Prize Nominee: Bad Visual Systems Ruth Buchanan [gallery:4344] The shortlist exhibitions for the 2018 Walters Prize have been announced with the works to be re-staged at Auckland Art Gallery in August, and the winner to be announced in November. The Walters is New Zealand's preeminent contemporary art award highlighting some of the most vital, interesting art being exhibited right now. In a series on Standing Room Only we're focusing one each of the four exhibitions and their artists or curators. Shortlisted is Ruth Buchanan's stunning installation Bad Visual Systems, first shown at Adam Art Gallery Wellington in late 2016. Bad Visual Systems is incredibly bold and experimental in shaking up the exhibition experience, trialing new ways for us to encounter space and think about the role of artists and how things are organised. Jun 10, 2018 12:40 pm Legendary Film Producer - John Barnett Last year saw a remarkable output of films during the final year at the New Zealand Film Commission of outgoing CEO Dave Gibson. But there have been questions as to the quality alongside the quantity. What can incoming boss Annabel Sheehan do to rectify this? Simon Morris talks to veteran film-maker John Barnett, formerly of South Pacific Pictures about the state of the industry. Barnett is working on a screen adaptation of the play Krishnan's Dairy, Tip Top Taj Mahal directed by Lee Tamahori. Barnett discusses new projects, and about filmmakers knowing their audience. Jun 10, 2018 12:16 pm Older stories Levi's War - Julie Thomas The Mood Machine - Emma Ng and Hera Lindsay Bird Targeting people - German photojournalist Herlinde Koelbl A Picture Paints Some Medical Words - Dr Sam Murton On the road again: Midge Marsden A Musical Crossroads - Capturing Tha' Feelstyle Facing Change: photographer Maggie Steber Not all audio is available due to copyright restrictions Visit the full archive of stories from Standing Room Only

$10,000 Opportunity for Writers

Applications open for NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship 2018

Calling for applications from writers of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama with a literary track record, who are currently working on a new project.

This annual Fellowship is awarded each year to a mid-career or senior writer to work on a project that shows a high level of literary merit and national significance and is donated by Peter Beatson. This year Peter has decided to increase the stipend for the fellowship to $10,000. We thank Peter for his continuing and generous support of New Zealand writers.

In 2017 the fellowship was awarded to Central Otago writer Jillian Sullivan, enabling her to work on a collection of creative non-fiction essays (including poetry) set in Central Otago and with a strong conservation base.

Deadline for applications: 4pm Friday 17 August 2018

To apply for the fellowship you need to be a member of the NZ Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc). Membership is open to all developing and established writers. NZSA provides: literary sector news, a mentorship programme, manuscript assessment, manuscript services, contract advice, advocacy and representation for writers, information on the publishing industry, grants and other opportunities, along with affiliation to international PEN.


For further information contact
Claire Hill 09 379 4801 office@nzauthors.org.nz 

The Bookseller

LATEST NEWS Bookshops campaign for same business rate relief as pubs Bookshops are asking to be given the same business-rate relief as pubs, arguing they help to drive social cohesion in a similar way to drinking establishments. Igloo overhaul puts business back on track Igloo Books, the mass-market children’s books business owned by Bonnier Publishing, has undergone an overhaul thanks to its new chief executive officer, who has affirmed the division’s future profitability. PLR to cover e-books and audiobooks The Public Lending Right (PLR) will be extended to cover e-books and e-audiobooks borrowed from libraries from 1st July. Wright, Vunipola and Fallon pick up Sports Book awards Martine Wright has won the Autobiography of the Year Award at the 2018 Sports Book Awards. Clinton praises feminist book trend ahead of Edinburgh Chelsea Clinton is "excited" to be a part of the trend for feminist children’s books, she told The Bookseller ahead of her appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. SCL rebrands as Libraries Connected The Society of Chief Librarians is rebranding as a new charity called Libraries Connected.             Wonderbly signs TV development deal for Lost My Name Wonderbly, the publisher of the personalised Lost My Name books, is partnering with animation studio Sixteen South and Walker’s Helen McAleer to create a TV series. HarperCollins Children's launches app for Google Assistant HarperCollins Children’s Books UK has launched a voice-activated app on Google Assistant for children’s audiobooks. Investigation into Why Social Media is Ruining Your Life to Cassell Octopus imprint Cassell has acquired a book warning against social media by influencer and journalist Katherine Ormerod. Bill Gates in e-book give-away for US grads Bill Gates has pledged he will give every US college graduate a free copy of a book called Factfulness.

The Bookseller

LATEST NEWS Waterstones sale to Elliott completes The purchase of Waterstones by Elliott Advisors has now completed. Bresh resigns as Quarto c.f.o. Days after Marcus Leaver's resignation as chief executive of illustrated publisher Quarto, the company's chief financial officer Carolyn Bresh has now resigned with immediate effect.  Walliams’ World’s Worst Children 3 marks hat-trick to series David Walliams has completed a hat-trick with the third volume of his short story collections, The World’s Worst Children 3 (HarperCollins Children's), scoring the UK Official Top 50 number one. Derkacz to replace Wright as HarperCollins' group sales director Anna Derkacz has been promoted to HarperCollins UK group sales director with immediate effect, joining the company's executive committee. 'Ethical guidelines' created following Home Office deal with libraries The Society of Chief Librarians has agreed to partner with CILIP, the library and information association, to develop an ethical framework regarding commercial partnerships following the fallout from its controversial deal with the Home Office. W H Smith Travel sales up 8% in third quarter Sales in W H Smith's travel business rose by 8% in the last quarter, although High Street revenue dipped marginally. Canongate revamps Haig's backlist Canongate is to republish five adult fiction titles from Matt Haig’s backlist this June with a new series design. Unbound crowdfunding record smashed by gamer Dan NerdCubed A gaming memoir by Daniel Hardcastle has set a new record on crowdfunding publisher Unbound's website - reaching 100% of its funding target within just 15 minutes. ‘Plastic’ revealed as Children’s Word of the Year ‘Plastic’ is this year’s Children’s Word of the Year, according to Oxford University Press, which has analysed the short stories submitted to BBC Radio 2’s 500 Words competition. Khatun and Lo scoop FAB prizes for undiscovered talent Reba Khatun and Yu-Hua Lo are this year’s winners of the Faber Andlyn BAME (FAB) Prize for undiscovered writers and illustrators. Bloomsbury appoints Hill in new marketing role Bloomsbury has appointed Nicola Hill to the newly created role of group director for consumer marketing and publicity. Bookouture author Gibney hits one million mark Bookouture author Patricia Gibney has sold over one million copies of her Detective Lottie Parker series of psychological thrillers in just over a year, the publisher has said.