Day: 14 August 2014

Lloyd Jones: WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival

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WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival kicks off on 27 August. We’ve asked three quick questions of festival guests:

Lloyd Jones

Cover of BloodclotWhat (or who) are you most looking forward to at WORD Christchurch?

Looking forward to Tusiata Avia and Five NZ poets. The highlight of any festival for me is hearing poets do their thing.

What do you think about libraries?

Libraries are sacred places. Used to be, that is. Their de-commissioning and the absence of books from the shelves is a disaster. A row of screens a barren look. I know, I know, they are a portal in to other worlds. So are books. But with books we have tangible evidence of the magic contained within. What will catch the eye of the first-time visitor to the library in the future? A screen or a book? That is the wonderful thing about the libraries that I happen to cherish. You enter a special place, your eye falls on something new and exciting and away you go on an unexpected journey. I was taken to the Lower Hutt library at a very age, and when I crossed that threshold there was no doubt that I was entering sacred space. The kids books were down one end. After a happy hour I’d look for my mother in the biography section a mile away at the other end of the library. Along the way I would pass shelves of books that I knew were not for me just then but I knew would would be part of my future journeying.

Share a surprising fact about yourself.

A surprising fact about myself? Well, this may come as a surprise. It may even sound a touch immodest. But, I won the gold for the 1500 metres at the Tokyo Olympics. I was eight years old at the time, and so it was hard to get the word out and about.

Cover of A history of silence Cover of Mister Pip Cover of jHand me down world

Bernadette Hall: WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival

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WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival kicks off on 27 August. We’ve asked three quick questions of festival guests:

Bernadette Hall – poet, playwright, and writer

Cover of Bird NorthWhat (or who) are you most looking forward to at WORD Christchurch?

I’m thinking that I’ll go for a cocktail of poetry and edge. I want to find out more about the short stories of Breton Dukes and make the journey to Hicksville with Dylan Horrocks. And there’s exciting stuff on the poetry scene. I’m looking forward to celebrating as Kerrin and Hinemoana launch their new books. And then there’s the Lyttelton love story from Sarah Amazinnia and Andy Coyle which promises to be electrifying. And Kristin Hersh and Aldous Harding on song-writing. Sorry novelists, I’ll catch you if I can.

What do you think about libraries?

I adore libraries. What pleasure to entrust yourself to the random wisdom of a library. How often does a book I really need leap out and grab me as I potter between the stacks. It’s as if my feet have been led to a particular spot, my hand to a particular shelf. That’s how I found Coco Chanel: an intimate life by Lisa Chaney. Or rather, that’s how it found me. As did The Case for God by Karen Armstrong. And KISS, KISS, YUCK, YUCK by Kyle Mewburn.  Sweet entrapment in the Hurunui Memorial Library.

Share a surprising fact about yourself.

I guess people might be surprised to know how obsessed I am with dead fish and seaweed. How I drag these things home from the beach. Or how much I love horse droppings. Given the choice at a roadside stall, I’d take a sack full of the stuff rather than a box of black Dawson cherries every time. Thus have I turned a barren, sand and riverstone section into a garden.

Cover of Life and Customs Cover of The lustre jug Cover of The merino princess

Elizabeth Knox: WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival

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WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival kicks off on 27 August. We’ve asked three quick questions of festival guests:

Elizabeth Knox – writer

Cover of The interestingsWhat (or who) are you most looking forward to at WORD Christchurch?

So many wonderful writers; it’s hard to choose. Fortunately I don’t have to! I’m going to try to go to everything. I am very excited to hear Meg Wolitzer talk about The Interestings. But when I’m in Christchurch these days what I most love is to see and hear how the city is doing.

What do you think about libraries?

 Sanctuary! Sanctuary!

Share a surprising fact about yourself.

Three times during thunderstorms I’ve seen ball lightning in our kitchen.

Cover of Wake Cover of Mortal Fire Cover of The Angel's cut

Guy Somerset: WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival

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WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival kicks off on 27 August. We’ve asked three quick questions of festival guests:

Guy Somerset – Books and Culture Editor of the Listener

What (or who) are you most looking forward to at WORD Christchurch?

As a long-time Kristin Hersh and Throwing Muses fan, I am looking forward to her. Then there is the Margaret Mahy Memorial Lecture by Elizabeth Knox, one of the few New Zealand writers with a mind as intelligent and free-ranging as Mahy’s. Meg Wolitzer is a novelist I have long wanted to read but have never managed to; hearing her talk will do very nicely in the meantime.

Cover of Paradoxical undressing Cover of Mortal Fire Cover of The Interestings

What do you think about libraries?

A good library is a magnificent place. Wellington, where I live, is blessed with one of the best: the Ian Athfield-designed central library, which is packed to the gunnels with smartly selected and curated books, magazines, DVDs and CDs. As much as that, though, it has great staff and a wonderful feeling of community, being full of people beavering away at its many desks or just lounging about with their heads in a book. Civilised society doesn’t get any better.

Share a surprising fact about yourself.

Once, working for the Technical Services department of Duke University in the US, I had to sweep cockroaches from the dressing room of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.