Writer
Tusiata Avia and former race relations commissioner Joris de Bres spoke last
night to mark the 20th birthday of the Whitireia Creative Writing Programme,
which is celebrating with the launch of a publishing imprint and its first
book.
There
was a large turnout on a typically wet and windy Wellington night for the debut
of Escalator Press, which will publish work by new and established writers
associated with Whitireia. Its first novel is by Adrienne Jansen, who
established the programme in 1993.
The Score is Jansen’s third novel. It is set in a block of
council flats, mining the rich world of a migrant community in the inner city.
It centres on music and the tenants’ attempts to rebuild a smashed grand piano.
Joris de Bres launched the book, speaking about Jansen’s
writing and the work she has done in the community.
Adrienne Jansen brought her friend and piano restorer Serge
Grandchamp to the stage to thank him for his help with the technical back story
of rebuilding the smashed piano.
She also made special mention of the students on the
Whitireia Publishing programme, who took the book from manuscript through to publication and have
managed marketing and publicity. The guests viewed the book trailer produced by
the students: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bMw85t-3V4
Musicians
representing the band in the novel played throughout the evening.
Celebrating
the writing programme’s birthday, Don Campbell, Chief Executive of Whitireia,
spoke about the achievements of writing students past and present, and alumni
Tusiata Avia gave a typically enlivening and moving talk about her life as a
writer.
Footnote:
This is a charming, thoughtful and moving work of New Zealand fiction which I thoroughly enjoyed and warmly recommend. An excellent book club title too I suggest.
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