Auckland Writers & Readers Festival - free readings

Auckland Writers & Readers Festival http://writersfestiva...
Date: Sat, 16 May 2009
Venue: Aotea Centre, Level 5 Air New Zealand Foyer
This is about 5 hours worth of readings with 30mins gap between each - I'm gonna try and attend all of them! Either meet me just before the first one at 10am - I'll wait just inside the ground level glass entrance doors, next to the Ticketek booking office - we'll then go up to the Level 5 Air NZ Foyer ... OR 5 minutes before each session is due to start I will wait briefly near the stairs on Level 5 - I'll have my mobile phone on silent but will check my text messages if you have trouble finding me. See you there! Annetta

21. Commonwealth Writers: Readings
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Best First Book
Get up close and personal with the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best First Book finalists as they give you a taste of their award-winning prose before the overall winner is announced at 7.30pm. Up for the Best First Book Award are: Mohammed Hanif from Pakistan (Europe and South Asia regional winner) with A Case of Exploding Mangoes, Mo Zhi Hong from New Zealand (South East Asia and Pacific regional winner) with The Year of the Shanghai Shark, Uwem Akpan from Nigeria (Africa regional winner) with Say You’re One of Them, and Joan Thomas from Canada (Canada and the Caribbean regional winner) with Reading by Lightning. Chair: Lynn Freeman.
24. FREE YA Readings
Time: 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Everyone likes to be read to – but how often do we get to hear writers read from their own work? Join the David Foster Wallace of YA writing, M.T. Anderson (Feed), Carnegie Medal winning Mal Peet (Tamar) and our own master storytellers Kate De Goldi (The Ten PM Question) for an hour of storytelling in a relaxed setting.
27. Emerging Stars
Time: 01:00 p.m. - 02:00 p.m.
Eleanor Catton won the Sunday Star-Times short story competition and her much lauded first novel Rehearsal won the Adam Prize in Creative Writing in 2007. She also received the 2008 Schaeffer Fellowship to the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop. Anna Taylor won the 2006 Adam Prize in Creative Writing for the short stories just published in her first book, Relief. She already has a reputation as a consummate performer. Bridget van der Zijpp was short-listed for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book (South East Asia and Pacific region) for her novel Misconduct. All hail from the Institute of Modern Letters and are published by Victoria University Press, and they join Bill Manhire to talk about their new lives as published authors.
30. Commonwealth Writers: Readings
Time: 02:30 p.m. - 03:30 p.m.
Best Book
Get up close and personal with the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best Book finalists as they give you a taste of their award-winning prose before the overall winner is announced this evening. Up for the Best Book Award are: Christos Tsiolkas from Australia with The Slap (South East Asia and Pacific regional winner), Jhumpha Lahiri* from the United Kingdom (Europe and South Asia regional winner) with Unaccustomed Earth; Mandla Langa from South Africa (Africa regional winner) with The Lost Colours of The Chameleon and Marina Endicott from Canada (Canada and the Caribbean regional winner) with Good to a Fault. Chair: Lynn Freeman.

33. Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellows Celebrate 40 Years
Time: 04:00 p.m. - 05:00 p.m.
The $100,000 New Zealand Post Mansfield Prize and Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2009. It has grown somewhat over the years, thanks to substantial support from its most recent generous supporter, New Zealand Post. Since 1970, forty Fellows have used the study in the Villa Isola Bella in Menton, France, where Katherine Mansfield lived and wrote. Jenny Pattrick is this year’s recipient of the prize. Join past fellows Bill Manhire (2004), Tessa Duder (2003), Stephanie Johnson (2000), Roger Hall (1997), Owen Marshall (1996), Russell Haley (1987) and Michael Harlow (1986) as they share a favourite piece of Mansfield’s writing, stories of their time in Menton and the impact of the prize on their writing careers. Chair: Richard Cathie.