Tag: author interview

Interview: Poet Arihia Latham on her debut collection, Birdspeak

Neil

Birdspeak is Arihia Latham’s debut collection of poems (published by Anahera Press) where birdcall and nature resound throughout the collection.

In many ways the book is a beautiful and poignant culmination of all the life experiences and places – physical, spiritual and intellectual – that have influenced and created Arihia as a creator up to this moment in time.  Life experiences such as being an advocate for Māori and Pāpātuanuku, being a  rongoā practitioner, as a māmā, as Kāi Tahu and her life as a creator.

This beautiful collection of poetry is both political and personal, tender and fierce. That weaves in the subjects, such as dismantling the patriarchy and its gender binary and decolonising / re-indigenising our history, as well subtly balancing tone and time, the universal and the everyday.

The collection is deeply steeped in Māori culture and is timed to be released to tie in with the Matariki celebrations.

The collection will be launched on Wednesday 12th July 6pm at Unity Books

When the opportunity to interview Arihia about Birdspeak and her creative practice arose, we jumped at it! We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Arihia for taking the time to answer our questions; for providing such an illuminating insight into her creative life, world and work; and also, for giving us a fabulous reading of the title poem ‘Birdspeak’.

Artwork by Natalie Couch. All art used in this interview is by kind permission and strictly copyrighted.

You can watch the video of our interview below, or on our YouTube channel.

Arihia Latham (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha) is a writer, rongoā practitioner and cultural advisor. Her work has been widely published and anthologised in publications such as Huia, Landfall, Oranui, Foodcourt, Te Whē, Awa Wāhine, The Spinoff and Pantograph Punch.

She has presented at Verb festival, NZ Festival of the Arts and Te Hā and is a regular arts columnist for The Post and recently featured in the Lōemis festival reading poetry on a beach by firelight under the stars. She lives with her whānau in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Arihia’s collection Birdspeak will be available to borrow from the library soon.

Huia short stories 7 : contemporary Māori fiction
“This collection of short stories and novel extracts follows the 2007 Pikihuia Awards for Maori Writers. The biennial awards and their subsequent publications have become well-known and much-anticipated, as they bring more undiscovered gems to the attention of the reading public. This years awards were judged by James George, Barry Barclay, Kelly Ana Morey and Wena Harawira.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

 

Huia short stories 10 : contemporary Māori fiction
“Here are the best short stories and novel extracts from the Pikihuia Awards for Maori writers 2013 as judged by Sir Mason Durie, Hana O’Regan and Reina Whaitiri. The book contains the stories from the finalists for Best Short Story written in English, Best Short Story written in Maori and Best Novel Extract.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

Vā : stories by women of the moana
“Stories that tell Covid how we really feel, where a centipede god watches on with wry humour and wrath, where a sexy Samoan goes on a hot Tinder date in Honolulu, where a New Zealand doctor is horrified to be stuck at her cousin’s kava drink up in Fiji, where moana people travel the stars and navigate planets, stories where ancestors and atua live and breathe. Stories that defy colonial boundaries, and draw on the storytelling and oratory that is our inheritance. Immerse yourself in the intrigue, fantasy, humour and magic of beautiful strong stories by 38 writers from across the moana.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Karori Library Cauldron of Creation: this month’s new fiction

Neil

Karori library and the birth of the international bestselling novel, Strange Sally Diamond.

Welcome to this month’s latest selection of recently acquired fiction. As is traditional in these blogs, we like to take a  particular title and expand on some aspect of the book; be it character, location or subject. It’s often quite difficult with such a wide variety of books and subjects you could explore. However, this month’s choice was easy –  the new book by top Irish writer Liz Nugent Strange Sally Diamond leapt immediately to the top of the list, especially with our very unexpected role in its creation.

Let me elucidate –  way back on Thursday 3 October 2019, we staged a very special event at Karori Library in conjunction with the Ngaio Marsh awards. This event featured Liz Nugent in conversation with our own multi award winning author, Kirsten McDougall.

This event was very well-attended, well-received and featured a great conversation between Liz and Kirsten. And as is customary at these events, if there is any time at the end, we opened the floor to questions. One of the questions was ‘Do you think New Zealand, and specifically Wellington, would be a good place to locate a crime thriller?’

Kirsten McDougall
Kirsten McDougall

Four years later and with a fabulous new book in tow, Liz Nugent explained in several interviews how one of the book’s locations was chosen after being posed an intriguing question from a member of the public at a library event in Karori Library a few years back.

The book is a delicious and wonderful concoction, choc full of strange, dark and mysterious twists and  turns. And without any plot spoiling, it does feature New Zealand; a strongly recommended read from this highly acclaimed writer,

If you weren’t at this particular library event, we did film the whole thing, including that question and Liz’s answer, and you can watch this video below, or on our YouTube channel.

The other wonderful titles in this month’s selection are below.

 

Strange Sally Diamond / Nugent, Liz
“Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died. Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and worried police, but also a sinister voice from a past she has no memory of. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, recluse Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends, finding independence, and learning that people don’t always mean what they say. But when messages start arriving from a stranger who knows far more about her past than she knows herself, Sally’s life will be thrown into chaos once again.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

Empty theatre : or, The lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), cousins, in their pursuit of connection and beauty despite the expectations placed on them because of the exceptional good fortune of their status a / Jemc, Jac
“A wildly over-the-top social satire reimagining the mad misadventures of iconic royal cousins King Ludwig and Empress Sisi, from the incomparable Jac Jemc”– Provided by publisher.History knows them as King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Elizabeth of Austria, icons of the late nineteenth century who died young and left behind magnificent portraits and palaces…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Kind / Johnson, Stephanie
“Kerry-Anne is kind, unlike her foster sister Joleen, who is a different kind of person altogether. Being locked down for Joleen will mean behind bars. For Kerry-Anne’s ex-husband, the National MP Lyall Hull, lockdown will also take on a new meaning when he goes on a cycle trip instead of staying at home. From lockdown in the Bay of Islands, Kerry-Anne tries to work out what both are up to. Will anyone come up smelling of roses?” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

The Manhattan girls / Paul, Gill
“New York City, 1921 – An impossible dream. The war is over, the twenties are roaring, but in the depths of the city that never sleeps, Dorothy Parker is struggling to make her mark in a man’s world. A broken woman. She’s penniless, she’s unemployed and her marriage is on the rocks when she starts a bridge group with three extraordinary women — but will they be able to save her from herself? A fight for survival. When tragedy strikes, and everything Dorothy holds dear is threatened, it’s up to Peggy, Winifred and Jane to help her confront the truth before it’s too late. Because the stakes may be life or death.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The teacher of Warsaw : a novel / Escobar, Mario
“International bestselling author Mario Escobar captures the strength of the human spirit and the enduring power of kindness in this moving novel based on the true story of a brave Polish teacher who cared for hundreds of orphans in the Warsaw Ghetto.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

Going zero / McCarten, Anthony
” Ten Americans have been carefully selected to Beta test a ground-breaking piece of spyware. Pioneered by tech-wunderkind Cy Baxter in collaboration with the CIA, FUSION can track anyone on earth. But does it work? Each participant is given two hours to ‘Go Zero’ — to go off-grid and disappear – and then thirty days to elude the highly sophisticated Capture Teams sent to find them. Any Zero that beats FUSION will receive $3 million. If Cy’s system prevails, he wins a $90 billion-dollar government contract to revolutionize surveillance forever. For one contestant, an unassuming Boston librarian named Kaitlyn Day, the stakes are far higher than money…” (Catalogue)

One small voice / Bhattacharya, Santanu
“It is 1992, and India is ablaze with riots. In Lucknow, ten-year-old Shubhankar witnesses a terrible act of mob violence — an act in which his family are complicit and which alters the course of his life. In the two decades that follow, as he comes of age, Shabby must wrestle with the ghosts of his past and the expectations of his parents driven by guilt, but also by his dreams, as he tries to navigate the contradictions of modern India. In Mumbai he encounters Ganjeri and Shruti, both, like him, seeking the freedom to rewrite their stories and forge new connections and each entangled in the ties of family and tradition…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Tomorrow I become a woman / Odafen, Aiwanose
“When Gozie and Obianuju meet in August 1978, it is nothing short of fate. He is the perfect man: charismatic, handsome, Christian, and — most importantly — Igbo. He reminds her of her beloved Uncle Ikenna, her mother’s brother who disappeared fighting in the Civil War that devastated Nigeria less than a decade before. It is why, when Gozie asks her to marry him within months of meeting, she says yes, despite her lingering and uncertain feelings for Akin — a man her mother would never accept, as his tribe fought on the other side of the war. Akin makes her feel heard, understood, intelligent; Gozie makes her heart flutter. For Uju, the daughter her mother never wanted, marriage would mean the attainment of that long elusive state of womanhood, and something else she has desired all her life — her mother’s approval.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Interview: creator Ruby Solly on her new book, The Artist

Neil

The Artist, by Ruby Solly on the library catalogue

The Artist is Ruby Solly’s stunning new verse novel (published by Te Herengawaka University Press), which vividly and evocatively brings to life histories of our Southern iwi through the whakapapa of its characters and the rich world they and their ancestors call their tūrakawaewae – their place to stand, their place to sing. It is heavily rooted in a spiritual place that encompasses various times and realities and has a strong mythic quality. The book also illustrates in a deep way how legends and folklore tales have a fundamental importance to us in our present time in terms of understanding both ourselves and the world around us. As a novel, it is deeply evocative – cave art leaps from walls, pounamu birds sing, legends become reality, and history becomes the present. The book also uses Ruby’s own unique take on tarot within its creation and content.

Ruby SollyRuby Solly (Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe) is a writer, musician and  taonga pūoro practitioner living in Pōneke. Ruby describes herself as someone who “writes things, sings things and plays things”. While true, it doesn’t take much work to discover that this description doesn’t quite capture the scale – or indeed success – of Solly’s projects, publications and accomplishments.

Ruby’s first poetry collection Tōku pāpā gained rave reviews and was longlisted for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry. Other poetic works  have been published in The Spinoff, Landfall, Sport, Ōrongohau / Best New Zealand Poems 2019 and more.

Ruby’s musical achievements are equally impressive and include playing with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Whirimako Black, Trinity Roots and The New Zealand String Quartet. In 2020, Ruby released her fabulous debut album Pōneke. Amongst her many other musical projects, Ruby is a key member of the Tararua collective whose albumBird Like Men was released on Oro Records, again to ecstatic acclaim — it was described in Songlines Magazine as “totally mesmerising” and “truly magnificent”.

As if that wasn’t enough, Ruby is also  just about to complete a PhD in public health, focusing on the use of taonga pūoro in hauora Māori. So, when the opportunity to interview Ruby about The Artist and her creative practice arose, we jumped at it! We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Ruby, for taking the time to answer our questions; for providing such an illuminating insight into her creative life, world and work; and also, for giving us permission to use snippets from tracks from her fabulous solo album and images of her artwork in the interview.

All music and art in this interview is used with kind permission and strictly copyrighted.

You can watch the video of our interview below or on our YouTube channel, and further below you will find links to some of Ruby’s creative works we have in the library collection. Enjoy!


The Artist / Solly, Ruby
“At first there is nothing but black sand, then something begins to grow; a gentle song emerges so bright that sound becomes sight… And so from the black the world is sung into being, not for us, but for itself, but for the song. In a Southern land, where the veil of time and space has worn thin, twins with otherworldly ways are born to a stone carver and his wife. As they grow into themselves, the landscape and its histories will rise up to meet them and change their whānau forever. Cave art leaps from walls, pounamu birds sing, legends become reality, and history becomes the present in this verse novel by Ruby Solly (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu). The Artist brings to life the histories of our great Southern iwi through the whakapapa of its characters and the rich world they and their ancestors call their tūrakawaewae – their place to stand, their place to sing.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Tōku pāpā / Solly, Ruby
“Serves as a map of survival for Māori growing up outside of their papa kāika. These poems look at how we take knowledge we are given by our ancestors and hide it beneath our tongues for safekeeping. They show us how we live with our tūpuna, without ever fully understanding them. This book encompasses a journey spanning generations, teaching us how to keep the home fires burning within ourselves” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Atua wāhine : a collection of writings by wāhine Māori
“Contains the following works : Machine-generated: He Whakaaro Noa Iho: Goddesses and Grandmothers / by Jessica Maclean — Hinetītama’s Unbroken Song / by Ariana Sutton — Atua Wāhine and Mana Wahine / by Ataria Sharman — Hine-nui-te-Pō / by Tayi Tibble — Hinewai / by Isla Reeves — With Teeth / by Cassie Hart — Hinepunui-o-Toka / by Ruby Solly — Hineteiwaiwa / by Stacey Teague — Hine’s Moko / by Ataria Sharman — Rua Tekau Mā Waru / by Nicole Titihuia Hawkins, edited by Karlo Mila — uwha / by Miriama Gemmell — Papatūānuku / by Saskia Sassen — About the writers.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Out here : an anthology of Takatāpui and LGBTQIA+ writers from Aotearoa
“A remarkable anthology of queer New Zealand voices. We became teenagers in the nineties when New Zealand felt a lot less cool about queerness and gender felt much more rigid. We knew instinctively that hiding was the safest strategy. But how to find your community if you’re hidden? Aotearoa is a land of extraordinary queer writers, many of whom have contributed to our rich literary history. But you wouldn’t know it. Decades of erasure and homophobia have rendered some of our most powerful writing invisible. Out Here will change that. This landmark book brings together and celebrates queer New Zealand writers from across the gender and LGBTQIA+ spectrum with a generous selection of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and much, much more.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

A game of two halves : the best of Sport 2005-2019
“This book looks back through the fifteen issues of Sport from 2005 to 2019. In 600 pages it presents fiction, poetry, essays and oddities by 100 of our best writers, from leading lights like Bill Manhire, Ashleigh Young and Elizabeth Knox, to emerging glow worms like Tayi Tibble, Ruby Solly and Eamonn Marra.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Covid colab : a NZ lockdown music collaboration
“A Covid lockdown fundraising album created by some of New Zealand’s finest musicians remotely during lockdown. Featuring: Borne aloft / Al Fraser, Ruby Mae Hinepunui Solly, Michelle Velvin, Milo Meldrum, Nikau Te Huki — Defy / Maz Hermon, Nikita Tu-Bryant, Johnny Lawrence, Deanne Krieg, Johnathan Nott — Glass mountain / Benjamin James, Caroline Bay, Tom Watson, Annabel Alpers, Samuel Scott — Counting down the days / Ryan Prebble, Erika Grant, Ben Lemi, Estère Dalton, Flo Wilson, Cass Basil — The phone call / Samuel Scott, Caroline Bay, Stef Animal, Anita Clark, Benjamin James — Disguise / David Randall Peters, Peter Hamilton, Ayrton Foote, Rachelle Eastwood, Letitia Mackenzie — Precipice / Brooke Singer, Anna Edgington, Ben Lemi, Deanna Krieg, Grayson Gilmour.” ( Adapted from Catalogue)

Solar eclipse / Clear Path Ensemble
“DIY contemporary jazz meets electronic production from some of New Zealand’s most revered musicians in the Wellington scene. (Adapted from Catalogue)

Kaleidoscopes in the Dark: Our interview with Bethany G. Rogers

Neil

Bethany G. Rogers debut short story collection Kaleidoscopes in the Dark is a collection of twisted fairy tales and more modern dark themed tales that primarily draw on the English gothic tradition.

The book is full of black humour, macabre events and radical reimagining’s of traditional folktales. Her work has been compared to the writing of Angela Carter, the adult work of Roald Dahl (especially his Tales of the unexpected series) and even the darker elements of Dickens. Many of the more modern stories will also enchant fans of the TV show Black Mirror. Readers can expect unexpected twists and turns at every juncture and to be surprised and drawn into each tale. It is a delightfully, frightful short read.

The collection took eleven years to write and was helped to completion by Creative New Zealand and The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (PEN NZ) Inc’s mentorship programme for emerging writers.

Bethany G. Rogers lives in Queenstown and originally hails from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK. Many of the stories are influenced by her Northeast England upbringing.

So, when we got the opportunity to interview the Bethany G. Rogers about her Kaleidoscopes in the Dark, we jumped at it!

We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Bethany G. Rogers for taking the time to answer our questions about Kaleidoscopes in the Dark and her writing practice, and for providing such an illuminating insight into her world and work.

You can watch this fascinating and insightful interview below,  or by visiting our YouTube channel here.

Kaleidoscopes in the Dark / Rogers, B. G
“Bethany G. Rogers debut short story collection Kaleidoscopes in the Dark is a collection of twisted fairy tales and more modern dark themed tales that primarily draw on the  English gothic tradition. Full of black humour,  macabre events and radical reimagining’s of  traditional folktales. Her work has been compared to the writing of Angela Carter,  the adult work of Roald Dhal’s (especially his Tales of the unexpected series)  and even the darker elements of Dickens,  many of the more modern stories will also enchant fans of  the Black Mirror TV show.” ( Adapted from Catalogue)

Biter: Conversation with poet Claudia Jardine

Neil

I fell in love
I kissed
gains made
it all happened
I am desired
but I?
and you?
and how?
one god alone knows
 
— ‘One God’ from Palatine Anthology V.51 — Anonymous

Biter is Claudia Jardine’s remarkable first collection of poetry. It is inspired by ancient Greek epigrams in the Palatine Anthology, which are used by Claudia as a stepping stones to create a bitingly contemporary Poetry Collection. The Palatine Anthology is a collection of Greek epigrams and poems found in Heidelberg in 1606 in the Palatine Library. The collection itself is based on much older ancient Greek anthologies. The poems in Claudia’s collection range in topics from hickeys to puttanesca, vulnerable love poems to boozy sonnets.

Poet Claudia Jardine has an MA in classics with distinction from Victoria University, she won the 2020 Alex Scobie Research Prize and a Marsden Grant for Masters scholarship. Claudia, as this collection testifies, is a poet of incredible versatility, talent and bravery.

 

This interview was done in conjunction with Caffeine and Aspirin, the arts and entertainment review show on Radioactive FM. For more information on Claudia Jardine  you can visit her Facebook page. You can borrow Biter from the library by clicking on the link below.

Biter / Jardine, Claudia
“Ancient Greek epigrams drive a bitingly contemporary first poetry collection.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Now available on YouTube: H.G. Parry’s book launch of The Magician’s Daughter

Neil

Recently, at Newtown Library, we had the rare opportunity to stage a launch event with acclaimed bestselling historical fantasy fiction writer H.G. Parry. This event celebrated the release of H.G. Parry’s latest novel The Magician’s Daughter, already hailed as a brand-new instant classic by no less than Alix E. Harrow.

Parry’s previous books include The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians and A Radical Act of Free Magic, all of which have gained her an international and ever-growing fanbase.

The Magician’s Daughter is set in the early 1900s and features a young woman caught between two worlds. It is a spellbinding tale told with a potent mix of magic, myth and mystery, described by one reviewer “as the adventure of a lifetime”. It is original and new yet nostalgic, vintage and unmissable fantasy in the raw.

It really turned out to be an  entertaining, enlightening and enthralling  event. The event has now passed into the annals of the past, but with the author’s and publishers’ permission we were able to film the proceedings, and are now proud to present a video of the evening.

We wish to extend our most heartfelt thanks to H.G Parry, Newtown Library and its staff and The Hachette Book Group for making this very special event happen.

You can now view the video below or visit our You Tube channel.

Browse Parry’s books:

The magician’s daughter / Parry, H. G.
“It is 1912, and for the last seventy years magic has all but disappeared from the world. Yet magic is all Biddy has ever known. Orphaned as a baby, Biddy grew up on Hy-Brasil, a legendary island off the coast of Ireland hidden by magic and glimpsed by rare travelers who return with stories of wild black rabbits and a lone magician in a castle. To Biddy, the island is her home, a place of ancient trees and sea-salt air and mysteries, and the magician, Rowan, is her guardian. She loves both, but as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she is stifled by her solitude and frustrated by Rowan’s refusal to let her leave. One night, Rowan fails to come home from his mysterious travels. To rescue him, Biddy ventures into his nightmares and learns not only where he goes every night, but that Rowan has powerful enemies.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The unlikely escape of Uriah Heep / Parry, H. G.
“For his entire life, Charley Sutherland has concealed a magical ability he can’t quite control: he can bring characters from books into the real world. His older brother, Rob – a young lawyer with a normal house, a normal fiancée, and an utterly normal life – hopes that this strange family secret will disappear with disuse, and he will be discharged from his life’s duty of protecting Charley and the real world from each other. But then, literary characters start causing trouble in their city, making threats about destroying the world… and for once, it isn’t Charley’s doing. There’s someone else who shares his powers. It’s up to Charley and a reluctant Rob to stop them, before these characters tear apart the fabric of reality.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

A declaration of the rights of magicians / Parry, H. G.
“A sweeping tale of revolution and wonder in a world not quite like our own. It is the Age of Enlightenment — of new and magical political movements, from the necromancer Robespierre calling for revolution in France to the weather mage Toussaint L’Ouverture leading the slaves of Haiti in their fight for freedom, to the bold new Prime Minister William Pitt weighing the legalization of magic amongst commoners in Britain and abolition throughout its colonies overseas. But amidst all of the upheaval of the early modern world, there is an unknown force inciting all of human civilization into violent conflict. And it will require the combined efforts of revolutionaries, magicians, and abolitionists to unmask this hidden enemy before the whole world falls to darkness and chaos.” (Adapted from Catalogue). Also available as an Audiobook.

A radical act of free magic : a novel / Parry, H. G.
“The Concord has been broken, and a war of magic engulfs the world. In France, the brilliant young battle-mage Napoleon Bonaparte has summoned a kraken from the depths, and under his command, the Army of the Dead have all but conquered Europe.  In Saint Domingue, Fina watches as Toussaint Louverture navigates these opposing forces to liberate the country.But there is another, even darker war being fought beneath the surface: the first vampire war in hundreds of years. The enemy blood magician who orchestrated Robespierre’s downfall  to bring about a return to dark magic to claim all of Europe. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)