1. Unity Books Auckland and Wellington: Simply the best
2. Bill Manhire : Done more to raise the quality of NZ Fiction and Poetry than anyone else
3. Geoff Blackwell : Shame he isn’t running one of the local multi-nationals. He should be
4. Lloyd Jones : Our pre-eminent novelist with a five star track record.
5. The Editors: especially Barbara Larson, Jane Parkin and Anna Rogers: Making good books better.
6. Neil Cross{Wellington]: Lead writer on Spooks, creator of Luther, author of nine great books including the Booker listed Always the Sun. Photo-SST7. The other independent booksellers: apart from that grumpy bugger in Timaru.
8. The Reps- a diminishing breed but still a vital link between publishers and booksellers who care.
9. Karen Ferns – keeping Random House head and shoulders above the rest.
10. Neil Hyndman – proving it is possible to make real money out of publishing.
11. The Agent – Ray Richards. Are there any others?
13. The team at Craig Potton – Carrying the flag for quality small publishers after the disappearance of Godwit, Shoal Bay, Tandem, Longacre and Mallinson Rendell
14. Bill and Phil [Noble and King] University Booksellers Supreme
15. Publishers – The Magnificent Seven : Harriet Allan, Fergus Barrowman, Jane Connor, Sam Elworthy, Nicola Legat, Rachel Scott, Bridget Williams. Quality rules.
16. Elizabeth Knox : An author with a great depth and breadth of talent and a hard-won international reputation
17. Joan Mackenzie : Has it in her power to make a real difference for New Zealand Publishers. I am sure she will use it wisely
19. The bloggers: especially Rachel King, Vanda Symon, Chris Bourke, Auckland and Christchurch libraries. Oh alright – also that Beattie chap.
20. The readers – where would be without them??
7 comments:
I'd add Reviewers: both NZ Books, NZ Listener, Landfall, etc, and their books editors for fighting for / maintaining a commitment to space for reviews and high quality, NZ published books; and our range of thoughtful reviewers - David Eggleton, Iain Sharp. Lawrence Jones, Jane Westaway, Harry Ricketts, et al - we're lucky there are quite a few around!
Also RNZ National for its commitment to New Zealand books and writing: reviews, author interviews, dramatisations . . .
And as for the publishers - you left out Mary Varnham at Awa Press! Especially important as she focuses on non-fiction.
Hard to resist responding to this…
Whilst I agree with most of Kauri Bookends’ selections I would venture to add a few more..
In no particular order [as they say on the X factor] I would offer
The two Fionas – Farrell and Kidman. Wonderful women writing wonderful books
Carole Beu – if all booksellers were as active and enthusiastic we would sell more books….
The retirees – especially David Elworthy, Ros Henry and Bob Ross. They may no longer be involved in commercial publishing but all continue to do ‘bookish’ things. Long may they flourish.
The broadcasters – especially Kim Hill and a special mention for the incomparable Elizabeth Alley.
Jill Ewing at Random House. This company is regularly voted Distributor of the year by booksellers. Jill runs Random’s distribution. Enough said.
Belinda Cooke at New Holland – quietly running a small but perfectly formed company.
The third party book distributors – big and small – without them many smaller publishers would have no cost-effective way of getting their books into the marketplace. As I am a naturalised Cantabrian special mention must go to Nationwide Books at Oxford.
Those who run Writers Festivals throughout the country. Love them all.
Finlay Macdonald. Also Guy Somerset, Philip Matthews, Iain Sharp and David Eggleton.
Brian Phillips
PS Who is the grumpy bugger in Timaru? Can't think of anyone who fits that description...
Shouldn't Damien Wilkins be on this list? He knows more about what's going on in the pages of a novel than anyone else in New Zealand, as well as producing some of New Zealand's finest novels himself. As a founding editor of Sport he's responsible, at least in part, for publishing great new New Zealand writing over the last 20 years. And through his position at IIML he's a very significant developer of new writing talent. Surely - although perhaps quietly - one of the most influential people in New Zealand's literary world.
Yes to all of the above. Although there are a couple of names that aren't familiar. However, I'd add Geoff Walker to the 'retirees' category; Tim Jones, Helen Heath, Helen Lowe and Tuesday Poem to the bloggers (and there are more but I'll stop there); Lyn Freeman, Kate de Goldi and Radio NZ National to the broadcasters; the Book Council if it's not already up there; Jenny Bornholdt, Vincent O'Sullivan and Ian Wedde to the poets; Margaret Mahy, Joy Cowley, Maurice Gee, Beverley Randell and Gecko Press to the children's book category.
Thanks, Anonymous, from Jane Westaway and, I'm sure once he knows about it, Harry Ricketts.
Do subscribe to New Zealand Books, all you readers - we need your support.
I'd add Quentin Wilson, a superb book designer; Ruth Todd and Morrin Rout for their work in promoting books and writers and David Ault of Madras Books in Christchurch who knew everything there was to know about selling and ordering and discussing books. Sadly his bookshop is no more.
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