Thursday, October 31, 2013

Tauranga Arts Festival shines at half-way mark and looks to glorious end - Writers & Readers programme underway today


Thursday 31 October starts the Writers & Readers programme in the TV3 Crystal Palace. Graeme Simsion, author of The Rosie Project talks about turning the book into a film, happy endings, and the writing process with Julie Thomas author of best-selling novel, Keeper of Secrets.

A new event called The Book Club is at Trinity Wharf Tauranga on Thursday evening – an incredible line-up of writers in an intimate evening with just 45 audience members. 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 will 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.  Elizabeth Knox says ‘‘It seems very fitting that I should launch Wake at the Tauranga festival. Tauranga is lovely, sunny, and hospitable - as is fictional settlement of Kahukura, a place inhabited by people just like us, where what is day lit, familiar, and homely has to hold out against fearful threats, in a story about the bad things that happen, and the good people do.’ – Elizabeth Knox’.

The final days of the festival promise to be as energetic, as moving and as inspiring as the first. Festival organizers are extremely proud of the programme that is being presented and of the positive and excited reactions of the many who have attended events so far.

Performances to come include Miss Fletcher Sings the Blues (Thursday 31 October, TV3 Crystal Palace), The Southgate Band (Thursday 31 October in Fairview Golf & Country Club, Katikati | Friday 1 November, TV3 Crystal Palace), The Eastern (Saturday 3 November, TV3 Crystal Palace), Duck, Death & the Tulip (X Space Baycourt, Friday 1 November – Saturday 2 November, 1pm and 6pm each day), Poetry & Song (Sunday 3 November, TV3 Crystal Palace, 1pm).

Tickets to Writers & Readers sessions and other festival performances are still available at Baycourt Ticket Direct | 0800 224 224 | www.ticketdirect.co.nz



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