Katherine Mansfield Centenary Event with author Redmer Yska

Last year was the centenary of Katherine Mansfield’s death and to mark the iconic writer’s legacy we held a special event at Te Māhanga Karori Library. Redmer Yska, author of ‘Katherine Mansfield’s Europe: Station to Station’, was joined by our Local & NZ History Specialist Gábor Tóth to deep dive into Mansfield’s words, travels and her Karori connections. Hear how Yska traced and pulled together letters, journals and research to compile this fascinating insight into Mansfield that acts as part travelogue, part literary biography, part detective story and part ghost story. 

Redmer Yska is an award-winning writer and historian based in Wellington. ‘Katherine Mansfield’s Europe: Station to Station’ is Yska’s second book on the iconic writer, his first book on Mansfield ‘A Strange Beautiful Excitement: Katherine Mansfield’s Wellington’ was shortlisted for the 2018 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

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Wellington Writers Walk: Dame Fiona Kidman

Dame Fiona Kidman

In the lead up to our Wellington Writers Walk 21st Anniversary Event at Karori Library this Saturday we’ve taken a closer look at Dame Fiona Kidman’s typographical sculpture, which features a quote taken from ‘Speaking with my Grandmothers’ in Writing Wellington, ed. Roger Robinson, Victoria University Press, 1999.

This town of ours kind of flattened
across the creases
of an imaginary map
a touch of parchment surrealism here
no wonder the lights
are wavering
all over the place
tonight
not a straight town at all.

In the video below, local authors and Wellington Writers Walk Committee members Philippa Werry and Maggie Rainey-Smith explain Kidman’s work, embedded in the sand at Freyberg Beach. They provide a fascinating insight into the pride Kidman feels about her sculpture, which celebrates her ancestry and deep connection to Wellington.

Join us at Karori Library on Saturday 13th May, 11am for a special event celebrating the 21st anniversary of the Wellington Writers Walk, featuring renowned authors Elizabeth Knox and Dame Fiona Kidman in discussion with fellow author and Writers Walk committee member Tanya Ashcroft. Together they will talk about the creation, history and future of this wonderful Wellington institution, and the part they’ve played in making the walk the much-loved success it is.

Please note we expect this event to be very popular and seating will be on a first come first served basis. A New Zealand Sign Language Interpreter will be present at this event.

Explore some of Dame Fiona Kidman’s books in our collection:


So far, for now : on journeys, widowhood and stories that are never over / Kidman, Fiona
“Evocative, wry and thought-provoking, this is a rewarding journey with one of our finest writers. It is a little over a decade since Fiona Kidman wrote her last volume of memoir. But her story did not end on its last page; instead her life since has been busier than ever, filled with significant changes, new writing and fascinating journeys. From being a grandmother to becoming a widow, from the suitcase-existence of book festivals to researching the lives and deaths of Jean Batten and Albert Black, she has found herself in new territory and viewed the familiar with fresh eyes. She takes us with her to Paris and Pike River, to Banff, Belfast and Bangkok, searching for houses in Hanoi and Hawera, reliving her past in Waipu and experiencing a stint in Otago. These locations and experiences – among others – have shaped Fiona’s recent years, and in this lively book she shares the insights she has picked up along the way.” (Catalogue)

All the way to summer : stories of love and longing / Kidman, Fiona
“Fiona Kidman’s early stories about New Zealand women’s experiences scandalised readers with their vivid depictions of the heartbreaks and joys of desire, illicit liaisons and unconventional love. Her writing made her a feminist icon in the early 1980s, and she has since continued to tell the realities of women’s lives, her books resonating with many readers over the years and across the world. To mark her 80th birthday, this volume brings together a variety of her previously published stories as well as several that are new or previously uncollected; all moving, insightful and written with love. The final stories trace her own history of love, a memoir of significant people from childhood and beyond.” (Catalogue)

This change in the light : a collection of poems / Kidman, Fiona
“Fiona Kidman’s exquisite and adroit poetry invites the reader into her life, introducing us to her family, friends and places she has loved. In turn it touches our own experiences, offering universal relevance and insight.” (Catalogue)

True stars / Kidman, Fiona
“Who is trying to scare Rose? This gripping novel is a vivid portrayal of New Zealand in the 1980s.Rose Kendall is alone. She is isolated from her children, her friends, and her political ideals, and there is someone trying to scare her – she doesn’t know why and she doesn’t know who.True Stars shows the tensions and divisions in 1980s New Zealand, which were echoed both on a national level and in family relationships, which were crystallised by the 1981 Springbok Tour, and which gnaw at differences in race, gender, class – and politics. It is a savage and often humorous novel set during the last months of the Lange Government. ‘With True Stars, Fiona Kidman has become the foremost chronicler of our times.’ – Roger Hall, The Dominion” (Catalogue)

Beside the dark pool / Kidman, Fiona
“In this sequel to At the End of Darwin Road, Fiona Kidman takes us through the writing of over twenty more books, of her involvement in New Zealand’s literary circles, her championing of writing and writers and the significant people she has met along the way.” (Catalogue)

Ricochet baby / Kidman, Fiona
“A moving novel, with intelligent and compassionate insight into post-natal depression and the complexities of relationships. ‘When Roberta falls pregnant her whole family is filled with joy.’ Fallen is not exactly how Roberta would describe it, for she and Paul have planned the baby and it has been conceived at exactly the time that they chose. But the birth itself is not as anyone chooses and the circles that radiate from this crisis affect everyone involved and change Roberta’s life, in particular, for ever. Moving and perceptive, full of intelligence and compassionate insights into the complexities of human relationships, this is a fine novel from one of New Zealand’s best writers. ‘In her craft of her storytelling and in her compassionate gutsy tough expression of female experience, she is the best we have.’ – NZ Listener” (Catalogue)

The book of secrets / Kidman, Fiona
“The true story of three women who lived in a community under the harsh leadership of Norman McLeod. The community had followed him from Scotland in 1817 to found a settlement in Nova Scotia and then moved on to New Zealand. Anyone who ran counter to McLeod was forced to live a life of secrets.” (Catalogue)

Where your left hand rests : a collection of poems / Kidman, Fiona
“‘This book is a treasure, in all senses of the word.’ – Nelson Mail An outstanding poetry collection by one of New Zealand’s leading writers. This collection of poems from Fiona Kidman bear all the hallmarks of her writing- acute observation, a telling eye for detail, a wry humour and great empathy. By turns tender, passionate, elegiac and amusing, the poems range over wide territory, from imagining her Scottish grandmother’s arrival in New Zealand, to wearing Katherine Mansfield’s shawl, to time spent in Greece and in her garden. “Superb poetry. A truly lovely little book.” – Metro” (Catalogue)

The infinite air / Kidman, Fiona
“Jean Batten became an international icon in the 1930s. A brave, beautiful woman, she made a number of heroic solo flights across the world. The newspapers couldn’t get enough of her; and yet she suddenly slipped out of view, disappearing to the Caribbean with her mother and dying in obscurity in Majorca, buried in a pauper’s grave.” (Catalogue)

The captive wife / Kidman, Fiona
“A prize-winning historical novel that has become a New Zealand classic. Based on real events, this prize-winning novel is the compelling story of a marriage, of love and duty, and the quest for freedom in a pioneering age. When Betty Guard steps ashore in Sydney, in 1834, she meets with a heroine’s welcome. Her survival during a four-month kidnapping ordeal amongst Taranaki Maori is hailed as nothing short of a miracle. But questions about what really happened slowly surface within the elite governing circles of the raw new town of Sydney. Jacky Guard, ex-convict turned whaler, had taken Betty as his wife to his New Zealand whaling station when she was fourteen. After several years and two children, the family is returning from a visit to Sydney when their barque is wrecked near Mount Taranaki. A battle with local Maori follows, and Betty and her children are captured. Her husband goes to seek a ransom, but instead England engages in its first armed conflict with New Zealand Maori when he is persuaded to return with two naval ships. After her violent rescue, Betty’s life amongst the tribe comes under intense scrutiny.” (Catalogue)

The story of pioneering Conservationist & Author David Towns

We recently interviewed trailblazing conservation biologist Dr. David Towns, who authored the newly released book Ahuahu: a conservation journey in Aotearoa New Zealand. Situated largely on the stunning nature reserves of the Mercury Islands, located off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, Towns spent 40 years working on innovative conservation projects to eradicate mammalian pests on all seven islands. These team efforts have resulted in abundant wildlife havens, teeming with native species that now represent the closest pre-civilization examples of island ecosystems in Aotearoa.

Towns’s new book Ahuahu gives a behind-the-scenes peek into the triumphs, setbacks and ground-breaking bicultural teamwork that have allowed these islands to thrive, creating a spectacular example of Aotearoa’s world renown conservation work. The book features stunning photography of the picturesque landscapes and wildlife that make up the Mercury Islands, and documents how conservationists, iwi and volunteers alike banded together to restore these islands to their natural state.

Watch our Q&A interview with Dave below, as he walks us through the remarkable journey of the islands, his career and his hopes for Aotearoa’s conservation future.

We extend our warm appreciation to Dave for the interview and for providing the photographs used in the video. Reserve a copy of ‘Ahuahu’ from the Library today!

Ahuahu : a conservation journey in Aotearoa New Zealand / Towns, D. R.
“Aotearoa New Zealand is renowned among biologists worldwide for spectacular ecological restoration work over the last 50 years, through advances in pest eradication and native species translocation. This book documents the development of these world-leading technologies. It uses examples from throughout the country, but has a special focus on one island group – the Mercury Islands off Coromandel, of which Ahuahu (Great Mercury Island) is the largest. The story is told through the eyes of pioneer conservation biologist David Towns, who was there from the start. It is a story of triumphs and setbacks, of opportunity and innovation, of teamwork and emerging bicultural collaboration. Today, all seven islands of the Mercury group are free of mammalian pests, providing a haven to native plants and animals. This book is the story of how that was made possible.” (Catalogue)

The Drinking Game: Our April eBook Club pick!

Welcome to the WCL eBook Club, where each month we highlight a popular eBook in our digital collection and give access to an unlimited number of downloads on Libby. That means no waiting in long reserves queues- you’ll get instant access to our monthly popular pick!

Join us between April 10 – 23 as we offer unlimited downloads of the newly released non-fiction eBook The Drinking Game by RNZ investigative journalist Guyon Espiner. Espiner takes a multifaceted deep dive into why and how we drink, exposing in the process a deeply intimate self portrayal alongside a global view of the blurry lines between alcohol enjoyment and dependence. Get your copy of this fascinating read that explores Aotearoa’s intertwined and tricky relationship with alcohol, and the big business, money and power at the root of it all.

Overdrive cover The Drinking Game, Guyon Espiner (eBook)

An incisive analysis of how our drinking culture is influenced by the government, media and big business, by investigative journalist Guyon Espiner.

‘This is real, it is raw, and it lays out the truth about booze.’ – Patrick Gower
‘Thought-provoking but never preachy, Espiner blends personal experience with his formidable journalism talents as he dissects the role of booze in our lives.’ – Jack Tame

Ever wondered why it always seems like a good time for a drink? Four years ago, investigative journalist Guyon Espiner gave up drinking alcohol. He had been a heavy yet controlled drinker since his teens – abstaining three nights a week but making up for it the other four. One morning he woke up after a big night and decided he’d had enough and he quit – no AA, no support groups. Not drinking has given Guyon a new perspective on our relationship with alcohol in Aotearoa, and a lot of it is disturbing.

The Drinking Game investigates the alcohol industry: the power, politics and lobbying behind our most harmful drug. Weaving together personal experience, hard research and interviews, it examines why New Zealand has such a heavy drinking culture, the harm it causes and how our attitudes to alcohol are changing. This is a sobering look into how the way you drink is shaped not only by your individual choice, but also by government, media and big business. (Overdrive description)

Join us again next month for our new eBook Club pick! And if you’re a voracious reader don’t forget that we have an amazing selection of eBooks that are always available to read

The Queen’s Wife: Our Q&A with author Joanne Drayton

A modern love story: whakapapa, archaeology, art and heartbreak

Larger image link: Joanne Drayton, pictured next to a pile of her book picks and holding her own book, The Queen's Wife

We recently sat down to chat with acclaimed author Joanne Drayton, the New Zealand biographer of a slew of bestselling books including the Ockham-awarded Hudson & Halls: The Food of Love, and the New York Times Bestseller The Search for Anne Perry.

In The Queen’s Wife (published by Penguin Books NZ), Drayton has turned her biographers lens inwards, writing her first memoir that details a turbulent period of her life. With a richly interwoven narrative, Drayton recounts her experience of coming out as a lesbian in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and the joys, struggles and heartbreaks that ensued.

Here we discuss her reflective journey writing her way through multiple threads of personal histories, her unconventional writing style, and how a 14-year-long chess-piece carving project formed the overarching theme of her memoir.

We extend our thanks to Joanne for taking the time to talk to us about her new memoir The Queen’s Wife. You can discover all of Joanne’s works in our catalogue reading list below, and check out Joanne’s website for more information on her writing.

Browse books by Joanne Drayton:

The Queen’s Wife / Drayton, Joanne
“A memoir of a turbulent time – and a chess game that broke all the rules. In 1989, two married women met by chance. They instantly hit it off, but little did they know that their new relationship would turn their lives upside-down. This is the true story of that relationship, which threatened to cost them their children, families and friends and forced them to reassess their sexuality, identity and heritage. Along the way, one – an acclaimed biographer – was to explore the power of objects, while the other – a painter – was to follow her whakapapa back to the first Maori king, Te Wherowhero. Against the odds, the couple’s new life together became rich in laughter, travel, unusual encounters, investigations into Viking raids, the Kingitanga movement, the death of a New Zealand artist, chicken claws, ghosts, eccentrics and much more. A fascinating read on so many levels, this is an important view of our country from its very edge. ” (Catalogue)

Ngaio Marsh : her life in crime / Drayton, Joanne
“One of the celebrated 1930s and 40s ‘Queens of Crime’ Ngaio Marsh was probably our first million copy author. Her tightly written, stylish whodunits were perennial favorites, rating alongside Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers. A textured, rich and fascinating story, of a young woman of ambiguous sexuality who reveled in the abandon of the Bohemian Riviera, whose spurned suitor committed suicide and whose scintillating murder mysteries all took their inspiration, setting or characters from the heady life she enjoyed as a member of the in set in England, where one moved between town house and country estate. In what will be one of the most read and most significant biographies of 2008, Ngaio Marsh comes to life and finally steps out from behind the cardboard cutout of respectability and decorum.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Hudson & Halls : the food of love / Drayton, Joanne
“Hudson & Halls is more than just a love story, though a love story it certainly is. It is a tale of two television chefs who helped change the bedrock bad attitudes of a nation in the 1970s and 80s to that unspoken thing – homosexuality. Peter Hudson and David Halls became reluctant role models for a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ generation of gay men and women who lived by omission. They were also captains of a culinary revolution that saw the overthrow of Aunty Daisy and Betty Crocker and the beginnings of Pacific-rich, Asian-styled international cuisine. In this riveting, fast-paced and meticulously researched book, New York Times bestselling author Joanne Drayton celebrates the legacy of the unforgettable Hudson and Halls.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The Search for Anne Perry / Drayton, Joanne
“In 1994, director Peter Jackson released the film ‘Heavenly Creatures’, based on a famous 1950s matricide committed in New Zealand by two teenage girls embroiled in an obsessive relationship. This film launched Jackson’s international career. It also forever changed the life of Anne Perry, an award-winning, bestselling crime writer, who at the time of the film’s release was publicly outed as Juliet Hulme, one of the murderers. A new light was now cast, not only on Anne’s life, but also her novels, which feature gruesome and violent deaths, and confronting, dark issues including infanticide and incest. Acclaimed literary biographer Joanne Drayton intersperses the story of Anne’s life with an examination of her writing, drawing parallels between Anne’s own experiences and her characters and storylines.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Edith Collier : her life and work 1885-1964 / Drayton, Joanne
“Edith Collier’s contribution to New Zealand art as an innovator, modernist and expatriate painter placed her in a most distinguished group, but her achievements have been eclipsed by the very company she kept – such as Frances Hodgkins and Margaret Preston. This book sets the record straight. Rapidly disillusioned, and feeling marginalised as an expatriate woman painter, Collier became more influenced by other expatriates in London, and was to enjoy greater success through exhibiting with venues outside the art establishment. Collier became a significant Modernist painter and later returned to New Zealand as an experienced artist with innovative ideas. But as a spinster in provincial Wanganui, Collier received harsh treatment, including what Drayton describes as savage, critical assessment and negative response from her own community. In a well-known incident (on which Drayton casts a new perspective) her father burned many of her finest paintings.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Frances Hodgkins : a private viewing / Drayton, Joanne
“The life of Frances Hodgkins was full of adventure, involving both physical and artistic journeys in which she crossed hemispheres, cultures, epochs and styles. Hodgkins worked with such well-known artists as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth – and she became a leading figure of British Modernism. She is one of the most internationally significant New Zealand-born artists to date. Art historian Dr Joanne Drayton captures Hodgkins’s life vividly, drawing on the artist’s extensive correspondence with close friends and family on the other side of the world. She critiques individual works and surveys Hodgkins’s entire career, displaying her unique achievements in context. The result is a beautiful, compelling and highly readable book that is indeed a private viewing: it offers a sense of immediacy and intimacy of Frances Hodgkins.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Rhona Haszard : an experimental expatriate New Zealand artist / Drayton, Joanne
“During Rhona Haszard’s short life she distinguished herself as a “New Woman” whose social and sexual behaviour was highly controversial. She dressed eccentrically, recommended Radclyffe Hall’s lesbian novel The Well of Loneliness, spoke positively of de facto relationships and advocated vegetarianism and unprocessed food. Most significantly, she wanted to paint innovatively and professionally. In the 1920s, her brighter, Post-Impressionist style rapidly brought international recognition.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Between the lives : partners in art
“Between the Lives: Partners in Art is a fascinating book about artists who are also intimate partners. It takes nine well-known New Zealand couples and explores many aspects of their lives but particularly how the partnership affects the art they produce. Repeated themes are the situation of women and the strains of producing serious art in a small and isolated country. There are also contrasts as different couples have negotiated their own ways of accommodating two powerful creative talents. Joanne Drayton authored the chapter ‘Captured in Words and Paint: The life together of Frances Hodgkins & D.K. Richmond.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Catherine Chidgey shares her writing hints and tips for NaNoWriMo

 

Multi award winning novelist Catherine Chidgey shares her writing hints and tips for NaNoWriMo.

With NaNoWriMo now in full swing and scores of people busy beavering away at various branches of our library network throughout Wellington. We thought now is an excellent time to step back for a moment take stock, seek advice and ask some of New Zealand’s leading authors for any helpful suggestions they might have to help people on their way.

The fabulous Catherine Chidgey has the following tips:

  • What personal tips or hints would you pass on to new writers.

Shut the internet out of your writing room! No phones, no tablets…I write on an ancient laptop that cannot connect to the internet. If I want to look at pictures of cats, or check how many likes I have for my latest picture of my cat, I have to leave the writing room and go to my other laptop in the lounge. For me, this is the only way to get any work done.

  • Are there any writing traps that people fall into you can warn them about?

Don’t spend too long throat-clearing at the start of a piece of writing, and don’t overstay your welcome at the end. Once you’ve written a draft, have a look at these two spots – the start and the finish – and see if you can do some cutting in order to let a more powerful opening/closing emerge.

Branches hosting “Come Write In” spaces for NaNoWriMo:

  • Te Awe Library – Monday – Friday 5.30pm – 7.30pm; Saturday – Sunday 12.00 – 2.00pm
  • Arapaki Library – Thursdays and Fridays 5.00 – 7.00pm
  • Mervyn Kemp (Tawa) Library – Wednesdays 10.00am – 2.00pm
  • Johnsonville Library – Tuesdays 4.00 – 6.30pm and Sundays 10.00am – 4.00pm
  • Karori Library – Fridays 3.00pm – 5.00pm and Saturdays 10.00am – 1.00pm
  • Cummings Park (Ngaio) Library – Mondays 5.00pm – 7.00pm and Wednesdays 2.00 – 5.00pm

We wish to thank Catherine for her invaluable advice.

And check out our previous hints and tips posts by Breton Dukes and Mikaela Nyman for more fabulous writing advice. For full details on NaNoWriMo click here.

Below is a selection of Catherine’s works including her recently released and highly acclaimed novel Remote sympathy. Enjoy.

The beat of the pendulum : a found novel / Chidgey, Catherine
” The Beat of the Pendulum is the result of one year in which Chidgey drew upon the language she encountered on a daily basis, such as news stories, radio broadcasts, emails, social media, street signs, TV, and many conversations. As Chidgey filters and shapes the linguistic chaos of her recordings, a set of characters emerge – In her chronicling of moments of loveliness, strangeness, comedy and poetry and sorrow, Chidgey plays with the nature of time and its passing. The Beat of the Pendulum is also an exploration of human memory.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The transformation / Chidgey, Catherine
“A tale of enchantment and obsession Tampa, Florida, 1898: a frontier where the progress of the modern world has not yet won the battle against the voodoo magic of the swamps, and where miracles of transformation are still possible. Dominating the town is the new Tampa Bay Hotel, with its tangle of Moorish minarets, cupolas, and arches, its Byzantine domes and thirteen crescent moons, and its electric lighting designed by Edison. This fairy-tale castle anchored at the water’s edge is a winter magnet for the best sort of people .” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The wish child / Chidgey, Catherine
” It’s 1939. Two children watch as their parents become immersed in the puzzling mechanisms of power. Sieglinde lives in the affluent ignorance of middle-class Berlin, her father a censor who cuts prohibited words such as love and mercy out of books. Erich is an only child living a rural life near Leipzig, tending beehives, aware that he is shadowed by strange, unanswered questions. Drawn together as Germany’s hope for a glorious future begins to collapse, the children find temporary refuge in an abandoned theatre amidst the rubble of Berlin. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Overdrive cover In a Fishbone Church, Catherine Chidgey (ebook)
“When Clifford Stilton dies, his son Gene crams his carefully kept diaries into a hall cupboard – but Clifford’s words have too much life in them to be ignored, and start to permeate his family’s world. Clifford taught Gene about how to find rocks and fossils, and about how to kill birds and fish. Gene passes on a similar inheritance to his daughters, Bridget and Christina – they have their own ways of digging and discovering the past, keeping an account of life, watching out for the varieties of death that lie hidden. “(Overdrive description)

Remote sympathy / Chidgey, Catherine
“Moving away from their lovely apartment in Munich isn’t nearly as wrenching an experience for Frau Greta Hahn as she had feared. Life here in Buchenwald would appear to be idyllic. Lying just beyond the forest that surrounds them – is the looming presence of a work camp. Frau Hahn’s husband, SS Sturmbannführer Dietritch Hahn, is to take up a powerful new position. As the prison population begins to rise, the job becomes ever more consuming. When Frau Hahn is forced into an unlikely and poignant alliance with one of Buchenwald’s prisoners, Dr Lenard Weber, her naÏve ignorance about what is going on so nearby is challenged. A decade earlier, Dr Weber had invented a machine: the Sympathetic Vitaliser. At the time he believed that it’s subtle resonances might cure cancer. But does it really work? One way or another, it might yet save a life.” (Adapted from Catalogue)