For a PDF of the Literary Festival Brochure click on front or back. On this site you can also check out the Fringe Festival programme, go to the Events page for a list of the confirmed authors attending the 2009 Wanganui Literary Festival, find a listing of all the events and prices, check out the Two One-Act Plays, go to the Home page for an overview of the 2009 festival or check out the Writers in Schools programme. You can also check out the programme from the 2007 Literary Festival and background on the festival director, Joan Rosier-Jones.
News Release 31st July 2009:
Our Dame Becomes a Knight
Dame Fiona Kidman who is coming to Wanganui for the Literary Festival in September is now a Knight. More precisely she has been honoured by the Government of France as a Chevalier d'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres' (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters). The honour was bestowed on Dame Fiona by the French Ambassador to New Zealand, Michel Legras, at the launch of the second part of her memoir, Beside the Dark Pool. It is an honour rarely bestowed and Dame Fiona said she is very pleased to receive it. ‘It is indeed a great honour,’ she said. ‘I am both surprised and humbled by it.’
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres was established in 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Order of National Merit by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Dame Fiona is only the second Chevalier in NZ, the first being Miles Rogers for his services to music. Fiona Kidman's is the first for literature. She is in good company . Sebastian Faulks is a Chevalier, and the most recent writer internationally to receive the honour is J.K. Rowling. There is no feminine of Chevalier in French so Dame Fiona has to be a Knight. The title of Chevalier itself dates back to 1802.
The author is no stranger to awards. Our own Government has honoured her as a Dame Commander of the New Zealand Order of Merit, and the recipient of the OBE for services to literature. She has won the Montana Book Awards and been the Creative New Zealand Michael King Fellow.
She has been a prolific writer over the last 45 years or so with six collections of short stories, eight novels, poetry collections, critical essays, television scripts and a play to her name. The first part of her memoir, At the End of Darwin Road, was published last year to wide acclaim, and Beside the Dark Pool is already receiving glowing reviews.
Fiona Kidman will be discussing the two memoirs and her other writing at the Literary Festival, (which runs in conjunction with the Wanganui Festival of Glass), on Saturday 18 September at 4pm in a talk entitled ‘The Art of Remembering’.
News Release 21st July 2009:
The full colour brochure for the Literary Festival is now available for download as a PDF in two parts, the brochure frontside and backside.
News Release 9th June 2009:
Preparations for the third Wanganui Literary Festival in September are well underway.
‘We have been fortunate to receive funding from several sources including Creative New Zealand, Power Co, the William McAlpine Duncan Trust and Whanganui Community Foundation,’ said organiser, Joan Rosier-Jones. ‘ Authors’ expenses have now been covered, but we are still seeking funding so we can promote the festival as far afield as possible. ‘
The line-up of authors includes, Kevin Ireland who will launch his 18th book of poetry just before the festival and Dame Fiona Kidman. Part two of Dame Fiona’s memoir is to be published shortly. Glenn Colquhoun, Nicky Pellegrino and award-winning columnist, Steve Braunias are also attending. The festival will cater for a broad cross-section of the community and is being billed as a lifestyle event. Celebrity chef, Ray McVinnie and Alexa Johnston, author of ‘Ladies a Plate’ will share a platform to talk about food writing. There will be a sports quiz with local writer, Hamish McDouall and wine writer, Warren Barton, will be talking about the language of wine. The children of Wanganui will also be involved with three events. One of these is Books by the River where writers will read from their children’s books at the Riverside Market. The other two events are aimed at schools with two highly successful authors in attendance: Kate De Goldi for primary schools and graphic artist Dylan Horrocks for secondary English and art students. Dylan Horrocks will also do a session specifically aimed at UCOL graphic arts students.
This year for the first time the literary and glass sectors are running their festivals at the same time. ‘This allows us to share some advertising costs,’ said Joan. ‘We are also sharing the inaugural event and both sectors are delighted that Chris Finlayson, Minister for Arts and Culture, will be officially opening the festivals.’
News Release 9th May 2009:
Award winning writer, Kate De Goldi is to be one of the featured writers at the 3rd Wanganui Literary Festival in September. Last week Kate won the supreme award at the New Zealand Post Children’s Writer’s Awards for her book, ‘The 10pm Question’. The novel also won the award for the best book of Young Adult Fiction.
‘The 10pm Question is a ground breaking children’s novel,’ says festival organiser, Joan Rosier-Jones, ‘and Kate De Goldi’s win is well-deserved. We are most fortunate to have secured her for the festival.’ The same book is on the long-list for the Montana Book Awards.
For the first time the literary festival committee has organised events specifically for the school children of Wanganui. Kate De Goldi will speak to the primary school children. If space permits the public will also be able to attend.
Thanks to Creative New Zealand funding the event is heavily subsidised and the entry charge is only a gold coin. ‘This should make it accessible to all children who want to attend,’ Joan said.
Kate’s talk will be aimed at encouraging the young people of Wanganui to write their own creative stories. She will talk about how writers find ideas and how those ideas connect with other ideas and form stories. She will also talk about reading - the ‘life’ of language – and why it is so important.
Bookings are going well for this event, but some schools are a bit slow on the uptake because it is so far ahead. However, the festival committee need to know numbers as soon as possible so that a suitable venue can be booked.
For further information contact Joan Rosier-Jones 3448 4791
News Release 6th May 2009:
Wanganui Community Education Service (CES) is sponsoring two of the fringe festival events.
The Cosy Literary Parish Saturday 12 September 10.30am – 12.00noon
Reviewing is a craft which is often misused. In this workshop nationally esteemed Wanganui reviewer, Peter Ireland, will discuss C.K. Stead’s remark that in New Zealand we have a ‘cosy literary parish’. He will distinguish for the audience the difference between the crafts of reviewing, and critical enquiry and thus instil cultural confidence and literary professionalism.
Cost: Gold coin
A Book in the Hand Saturday 12 September 2.00 – 3.30pm
Ed Boyd at H & A Printers has worked with many writers to make their dream of a book in print come true. He and his team at H & A are experts in layout, style and binding, and painstakingly guide their writers through the process of getting a manuscript from sheets of paper to a book in the hand. During the Fringe Festival Ed will talk about this process and explain how he and his team can make your dream come true.
Printing is the first step in the publishing process. Once a book is in print how do you get people to buy and read it? Local author, Alan Clay, is a highly successful self-publisher and he has solutions for successful sales and promotions . He will share the secrets of his success and help you get the book in your hand out into the competitive marketplace.
Cost: Gold coin
Bookings open 01 June. For more about these and other CES courses go to: www.wanganuices.org.nz
News Release 4th May 2009:
Two new writers have been lined up for the Festival. Journalist extraordinaire, Steve Braunias, will feature on Sunday 20th. His weekly satirical columns have appeared in Sunday Star Times since 2006, and were previously published in the NZ Listener, where he worked as deputy editor from 1999 until 2005. He has won national awards for best columnist, best travel writer, best environmental writer, best arts writer (three times), best crime writer, best food writer and best sports writer; as well as winning writing fellowships to Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Fool’s Paradise was the first of three collections of his journalistic writing. The second, Roosters I Have Known is a collection of interviews, first featured in the Sunday Star Times during 2007, of influential New Zealanders including political figures such as John Key and Helen Clark. Fish of the Week published in 2008 was Steve’s personal selection from the previous three year’s columns. How To Watch A Bird, Steve’s first full-length non-fiction book was published in 2007. It was highly-acclaimed, described by novelist Lloyd Jones as; 'A great book, original and captivating - compelling to the end.' Steve himself says: ‘You can’t be frightened of people. You are not in journalism to make friends.’ At the festival Steve Braunias will talk about his life as a journalist asking the daring questions.
Popular novelist, Nicky Pellegrino, was born in Italy and raised in Merseyside, England. She spent her summer holidays in southern Italy as a child and came to live in New Zealand after marrying a New Zealander. She was the editor of New Zealand Woman’s Weekly and currently works as a freelance journalist and author. Her first book was Angela D’Audney’s best-selling autobiography, A Wonderful Life (Penguin), which was written while the broadcaster was dying of a brain tumour and Nicky says it was the most difficult and saddest thing she’s ever done. In 2003 her first novel, Delicious, was published by Random House. It was later picked up by UK publishing company Orion and has since been translated into Dutch, German, Greek, Spanish and Portuguese. Her second novel, The Gypsy Tearoom, was equally successful. Nicky lives in Auckland with her husband and two large dogs, and commutes to Muriwai to ride her large chestnut horse as often as she can. She reportedly returns to Italy regularly in order to ‘eat the best mozzarella’. At the festival Nicky will talk about her writing career and her popular novels including her latest The Italian Wedding.
News Release 25th March 2009:
Dinner with the Stars at Paiges Book Gallery
Paiges Book Gallery are hosting the Dinner With the Stars event at the festival. To be held at the Quality Inn Collegiate this dinner will allow patrons to dine with some of the stars of the festival. Tickets will be available from the Royal Wanganui Opera House in July. Collegiate will be host to the visiting authors. http://www.collegiatemotorinn.co.nz
News Release 18th February 2009:
Poetry Luncheon at Poppies Bookshop
The good folk at Poppies Bookshop are ecstatic that poet and children’s author, Glenn Colquhoun, is coming to the Wanganui Literary Festival.
Kevin Ireland is the elder statesman of New Zealand letters these days. He will have his 18th collection of poetry, Table Talk, published this year by Cape Catley.
This is an appropriate title given that Poppies ‘My kind of bookshop’ is going to host a luncheon when Kevin and Glenn Colquhoun will read their poetry.
This page was last updated 31/07/2009
