Seven minutes with Bernadette Hall

Poet Bernadette Hall was one of three Cantabrians who flew the flag for Christchurch at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival. She kindly gave us some of her time for a bit of a chat. This seven-minute interview covers:

• The ‘crucial and essential’ role of writer’s festivals in building a community of writers;
• The Hagley Writers’ Institute  as a yeast in the mix of a healthy Christchurch poetry scene;
• How Hall is trying to change her poems and is writing short fiction.

I started the interview (which was just after a chat by Emily Perkins, Damien Wilkins and Fergus Barrowman, and before a late lunch) by asking what it was like to attend the festival as a writer.

Bernadette Hall read with Alison Wong, Ian Wedde, Jessica Le Bas, Ben Brown, Jeffrey Paparoa Holman and Alicia Sometimes at the festival.

With luck she will appear at the  Christchurch Writers Festival in October.