Last night’s event at the Cardboard Cathedral was a corker. SEVEN guests did their thing, and MC John Campbell was so engaging and literate I can’t help thinking – when is his book coming out?
I livetweeted the event, and hope it conveys the colour and brightness of this very special WORD Christchurch night.
I have espied @FergusVUP @ElizabethKnoxNZ @lainitaylor & Carl Nixon. #wordchch stars session is starry. pic.twitter.com/Mik1AgDL4t
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
Mr @JohnJCampbell gets his glasses out for first time and gets wolf whistles. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
“TV3 is as tight as a fish’s bum”. Then @JohnJCampbell tells a story about Barack Obama inauguration. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
. @JohnJCampbell with old people from Birmingham, Alabama as Obama walks by. “There isn’t a human dream that can’t come true”. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
A beautiful emotional intro on Christchurch from @JohnJCampbell has me teary. This is now. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
Meg Wolitzer is up. “Would I have heard of you?” worst thing to ask a writer. Her answer “In a more just world”. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
God, there is NOTHING like the writer reading aloud from their own work. Meg Wolitzer from The Interestings. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
Meg Wolitzer sings. Beautiful. As she reads, I remember I visualized Ethan as Philip Seymour Hoffman when I read The Interestings. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
Next up “appalling overachiever” – and star #wordchch tweeter IMHO – Damon Young @damonayoung. He is talking about the sublime & sea.
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
“Pleasure is not the only reason to read, but it’s a darned good one”. Diane Setterfield #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
“The worst moment of finishing a book is giving it to my Mum”. Diane Setterfield. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
. @JohnJCampbell praises Diane’s story “magnificently bonkers”. “Who would have picked a beauty contest between swans & rooks”. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
Mr @mojgani is blasting the Cardy Cathedral. “The curse of the internet … you can only give your self to your self…” #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
Anis Mojgani is funny, sharp, & v intense. Zounds! #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
NZ, Australia, US, England, Canada – Five eyes all here. @JohnJCampbell puts the scares on NoViolet Bulawayo. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
NoViolet Bulawayo reads from first chapter set in America: Destroyed Michigan. “coldness that wants to kill you”. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
There are not enough characters in a tweet to enumerate the honours bestowed on @EleanorCatton. “We’re super proud of you”. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
. @EleanorCatton sets scene for Luminaries reading explaining the astrology ascendancies on 20 March 1866. Mercury in Capricorn #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
One of my favourite Luminaries quotes! Moody says “To know a thing is to see it from all sides”. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
I am a dick! I thought that was the last #wordchch guest – but Holy Tamale it’s KRISTIN HERSH!!!!!!!!!!
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
And Kristin Hersh on the guitar playing Brave. Woah am fully crying. The Cathedral is ringing with sound. #wordchch
— ChChCityLibraries (@ChristchurchLib) August 29, 2014
STARS
- John Campbell MC
- Eleanor Catton (NZ) Novelist, The Luminaries
- Diane Setterfield (UK) Novelist, The Thirteenth Tale and Bellman & Black
- Damon Young (AU) Philosopher, author of How to Think About Exercise and Philosophy in the Garden
- NoViolet Bulawayo (Zimbabwe) Novelist, We Need New Names
- Anis Mojgani (USA) Performance poet, author of Songs From Under the River
- Meg Wolitzer (USA) Novelist, The Interestings
- Kristin Hersh (USA) Singer, songwriter, author of Paradoxical Undressing
More WORD stuff
Christchurch City Libraries Blog 