Celebrating literary talents
There’s something for every booklover to enjoy at Writers and Readers, reports
Four days, more than 80 events and already four sellout Writers and Readers Festival events. From tomorrow, offshore writers from 27 countries including Indonesia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and India will join more than 130 New Zealand authors to celebrate reading.
‘‘The festival’s commitment is to showcase the best of international and local art forms. It’s a meeting of minds,’’ festival programme manager Mark Cubey said.
The collection of works by poets, novelists, reporters, cartoonists and podcasters – to name a few – are set to stimulate, challenge, intrigue and emotionally captivate audiences.
‘‘That speaks to the strength of what we have in this city,’’ Cubey said of the huge lineup of celebrated Kiwi writers.
The festival will be a first for author and journalist Kelly Dennett. The former Stuff court reporter will team up with journalist and author of The Scene of the Crime Steve Braunias to talk about unsolved murders in The Missing.
The Short Life And Mysterious Death Of Jane Furlong is Dennett’s first book. It explores the mystery of the 17-year-old Auckland woman’s death.
She said the book gave her the freedom to ‘‘dig deeper’’ into the life of Furlong, whose story interested Dennett on many levels.
‘‘There was the murder mystery about who had kidnapped her and who had killed her but to me there was also something lurking underneath – a love story between Jane and her boyfriend and there was her volatile relationship with her mother, which was also loving.
‘‘She just lived a really interesting life. She was a teenager working as a sex worker, when it was illegal, and it was all very much sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.’’
Dennett wanted to know what led Furlong to that lifestyle but also to explore the tragedy of her still-unsolved murder. She hoped audiences would be interested in both the case and how to write a real crime story.
‘‘To be asked to participate in something as cool as this [Writers and Readers Festival] is just such a privilege.‘‘
A panel on Women Changing the World coincides with International Women’s Day and will set the benchmark on the opening day. Other spots are selling fast. Already, the Writers and Readers Festival has literary enthusiasts in a frenzy with four sold-out events – Bloody Difficult Women; New Asia, New Zealand; Elspeth Sandys And Renee – Looking Back; and Cut It Out: On Editing.
Other events to look out for include: a conversation with Lloyd Jones about his latest novel, The Cage; British writer Francis Spufford’s discussion about belief and God; AC Grayling’s take on modern democracy; a conversation with science fiction author and technology commentator Cory Doctorow; a visual journey with Nigerian photographer and author Teju Cole; Kiwi poet Laureate Selina Tusitala Marsh and cartoonist Sharon Murdoch.
Writers and Readers tickets can be bought through the New Zealand Festival website. There are also free events so everyone can enjoy these literary talents.
"The festival’s commitment is to showcase the best of international and local art forms. It’s a meeting of minds." New Zealand Festival programme manager Mark Cubey