Full programme for 2023: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/modernletters/about/events/writers-mondays
Events run from 12.15 to 1.15 pm on
Mondays at Rongomaraeroa, Te Marae,
Level 4, Te Papa
I’m looking forward to the 21st!
7 August
Other Worlds
Pip Adam‘s Audition features three giants: Alba, Stanley and Drew, who are squashed into a spaceship hurtling through space, and must talk to keep the spaceship moving. Tīhema Baker‘s Turncoat is set on a distant future Earth, colonised by aliens, where Daniel –a young, idealistic Human–is determined to make a difference for his people. These works of speculative fiction are exciting, inventive and compassionate in their exploration of systems of power. Dougal McNeill will talk to Pip and Tīhema about these other worlds in fiction, and the mirror they hold up to our world today.
14 August
Lioness
A new novel by Emily Perkins is an event in the literature of Aotearoa. Lioness is Emily’s first book in ten years and is set to be one of the most talked about novels of 2023. Join Damien Wilkins as he talks to Emily about Lioness and about a stunning career spanning more than 25 years, beginning with her classic debut Not Her Real Name, taking in her years in London, her time as a television books show presenter and a university teacher, and her more recent work for the theatre.
21 August
Ōrongohau | Best New Zealand Poems 2022
‘I tried to think of a visitor to our poetry shore—what could I include to show its terrain?’ wrote editor Louise Wallace, introducing some of our poetic landmarks of 2022. Hear Nick Ascroft, Morgan Bach, James Brown, Tim Jones, Anahera Gildea, Michaela Keeble, Frankie McMillan, Khadro Mohamed, and Sarah Scott, and read work from this annual anthology in a warm-up for National Poetry Day. Introduced by Damien Wilkins.
28 August
Home and Away: Noelle McCarthy
Early in 2020, Noelle McCarthy travelled to Ireland where her mammy, Carol, was dying, then back to New Zealand as borders were slamming shut. Written through the years of the pandemic, Grand is about mothers and daughters, running away and going home, Noelle and Carol. It’s been a best-seller here, winning the E.H. McCormick Prize at the 2023 Ockham Awards. This June, Noelle flew to Ireland to launch the UK and Irish edition. Kate Duignan talks to 2023 Writer-in-Residence Noelle about the reception of the book on both sides of the world, and what’s left to write after a memoir.
