Emergency Weather is Tim Jones’ debut novel, his previous literary outings have included releasing several acclaimed poetry collections and editing award -winning science fiction short story collections.
Emergency Weather is a powerful, prescient and compelling climate change thriller set in Aotearoa, and more precisely the Wellington region. The novel focusses on three very different people who have to face the climate crisis head-on, when a giant storm builds and then hits our capital city.
Tim Jones. Photo Copyright: Ebony Lamb.
Wellingtonian Tim Jones was awarded the NZSA Janet Frame Memorial Award for Literature in 2010. He co-edited Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand, which won the 2010 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Collected Work. His recent books include poetry collection New Sea Land (Mākaro Press, 2016) and climate fiction novella Where We Land (The Cuba Press, 2019). He is also a climate change activist.
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!
From September 1st till September 14th, our eBook Club title is the international bestselling sensation everyone is talking about Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton.
Birnam Wood was one of the most hotly anticipated novels of 2023, both here and overseas. It was released to rave reviews; the Guardian described it as “a dark and brilliant novel about the violence and tawdriness of late capitalism”. Inspired in part by Birnam Wood in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, one of the key subjects in the book is the battle to save a guerrilla community garden project in Christchurch called Birnam Wood.
This stunning novel was only released a few months ago and has dominated the fiction best-seller lists ever since. Birnam Wood has already featured heavily on many of the hot, must-read lists for the year.
We decided that the demand for Birnam Wood was such that we had to make it our September eBook club title pick.
Hiwa: Contemporary Māori Short Stories is a vibrant collection of contemporary Māori short stories, featuring twenty-seven writers working in English and te reo Māori. The writers range from famous names and award winners – Patricia Grace, Witi Ihimaera, Whiti Hereaka, Becky Manawatu, Zeb Nicklin – to emerging voices like Shelley Burne-Field, Jack Remiel Cottrell, Anthony Lapwood and Colleen Maria Lenihan. Edited by Paula Morris and consulting editor Darryn Joseph.
In this showcase of contemporary talent, Hiwa explores the range of styles and subjects in the flourishing world of Māori fiction.
Named for Hiwa-i-te-rangi, the ninth star of Matariki which signifies vigorous growth and dreams of the year ahead, this anthology reveals the flourishing world of Māori writing today in Aotearoa and beyond. The event promises to be unmissable.
Writers who will be speaking at this very special event are:
Whiti Hereaka
Jack Remiel Cottrell
Whiti Hereaka (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa) is an award-winning playwright, novelist and screenwriter. Whiti’s books include The Graphologist’s Apprentice, which was shortlisted for Best First Book in the Commonwealth Writers Prize South East Asia and Pacific 2011, Bugs which won the Honour Award, Young Adult Fiction, New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, 2014, Legacy, which won the award for Best Young Adult Fiction at the 2019 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and Kurangaituku, winner of the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. When not writing multi award-winning books, Whiti is a barrister and solicitor. She has held a number of writing residencies and appeared at many literary festivals in New Zealand and overseas.
Jack Remiel Cottrell (Ngati Rangi) grew up in Wellington and now lives in Auckland. His flash fiction collection was awarded the Wallace Prize for best manuscript in the University of Auckland Master of Creative Writing class of 2020. Other than fiction, his main passion is sport. He has been a rugby referee for ten years and his latest project is a novel set during a cricket game.
This event will be hosted by our very own Louise Dowdell.
We anticipate that this event will be very popular and seating will be on a first come, first served basis. We recommend arriving early to get a good seat! See our Facebook event listing here.
Hiwa : Contemporary Maori Short Stories
“An essential new anthology of our best Māori short fiction. Hiwa is a vibrant, essential collection of contemporary Māori short stories, featuring twenty-seven writers working in English or te reo Māori. The writers range from famous names and award winners – Patricia Grace, Witi Ihimaera, Whiti Hereaka, Becky Manawatu, Zeb Nicklin – to emerging voices like Shelley Burne-Field, Jack Remiel Cottrell, Anthony Lapwood and Colleen Maria Lenihan. A showcase of contemporary talent, Hiwa includes biographical introductions for each writer’s work, and explores the range of styles and subjects in the flourishing world of Māori fiction. Named for Hiwa-i-te-rangi, the ninth star of Matariki, signifying vigorous growth and dreams of the year ahead, this anthology reveals the flourishing world of Māori writing today, in Aotearoa and beyond.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.
Recently at our Newtown Library, in conjunction with Massey University Press, we staged a very special launch event celebrating the release of A Kind of Shelter Whakaruru-taha.
A Kind of Shelter Whakaruru-taha is a major anthology of new writing featuring some of Aotearoa’s most eminent writers, artists and thinkers as they consider what our shared future may hold. The book is a series of rich conversations discussing our world in the second decade of this century. Just a few of the hot button topics the authors look at include decolonisation, indigeneity and climate change. A Kind of Shelter Whakaruru-taha, itself, is arranged according to the principles of whaikōrero.
The anthology, co-edited by Witi Ihimaera and Michelle Elvy, embraces a wide spectrum of voices creating a multiplicity of views for readers to consider. The writers included also hail from a variety of artistic and professional practices, including poets, anthropologists, fiction writers, architects and academics. The resultant final book is a luminous hui, a book to return to time and again.
As co-editor Witi Ihimaera says of the book – “It incorporates all types of writing, positions Aotearoa New Zealand as a marae for the future and it empowers so many voices from so many places to speak out to the world with strong and vigorous kōrero. It has built for itself a truly unique and innovative marae from which to hui from.”
This fabulous event featured a panel of some of Aotearoa’s finest writers, artists and thinkers; discussion between the participants made for an unmissable event, providing an important and valuable contribution to the conversations on our collective future. If you did miss it, do not fear! The participants and Massey University Press gave us permission to film the proceedings. We are now proud to present a video of the evening.
The evenings participants included:
Michelle Elvy, Witi Ihimaera, Tina Makereti, Pip Adam, Gregory O’Brien, Ya-Wen Ho, Noa Noa von Bassewitz.
With readings by Sudha Rao, Emma Barnes, Whiti Hereaka and Janis Freegard.
You may now view the video below, or by visiting our YouTube channel.
A Kind of Shelter Whakaruru-taha : An anthology of new writing for a new world order / Ihimaera, Witi
“Sixty-eight writers and eight artists gather at a hui in a magnificent cave-like dwelling or meeting house. In the middle is a table, the tepu korero, from which the rangatira speak; they converse with honoured guests, and their rangatira-korero embody the tahuhu, the over-arching horizontal ridge pole, of the shelter. In a series of rich conversations, those present discuss our world in the second decade of this century; they look at decolonisation, indigeneity, climate change . . . this is what they see. Edited by Witi Ihimaera and Michelle Elvy, this fresh, exciting anthology features poetry, short fiction and creative non-fiction, as well as korero or conversations between writers and work by local and international artists. The lineup from Aoteraoa includes, among others, Alison Wong, Paula Morris, Anne Salmond, Tina Makereti, Ben Brown, David Eggleton, Cilla McQueen, Hinemoana Baker, Erik Kennedy, Ian Wedde, Nina Mingya Powles, Gregory O’ Brien, Vincent O’ Sullivan, Patricia Grace, Selina Tusitala Marsh and Whiti Hereaka. Guest writers from overseas include Aparecida Vilaç a, Jose-Luis Novo and Ru Freeman.” ( Adapted from Catalogue)
Recently at Newtown Library we had the second of our two crime-writing events, run in conjunction with and celebrating the wonderful Ngaio Marsh awards. Both events featured a host of New Zealand’s finest crime and thriller writes; the event in Newtown Library featured the following fabulous panellists:
Anne Harre is an author and school librarian in Wellington who’s also worked as a music teacher, bookseller, and editor of the New Zealand Poetry Society anthology. Her first crime novel The Leaning Man was praised as “slick, engaging and compelling” (Academy of NZ Literature).
Brannavan Gnanalingam is a Wellington novelist, freelance writer, and property lawyer who was born in Sri Lanka and grew up in Lower Hutt. He’s written seven novels, been listed for the Ockham NZ Book Awards three times, and won a 2021 Ngaio Marsh Award for Sprigs.
Kirsten McDougall is an award-winning short story writer, novelist, and creative writing teacher who lives in Ōwhiro Bay. Her novels have been longlisted for the Ockham NZ Book Awards and the Dublin Literary Award, and Kirsten is a two-time finalist for the Ngaio Marsh Awards.
Rodney Strong is a Porirua author who left his day job in 2016 to follow his lifelong dream of being a writer. He has since published more than a dozen books for children and adults, including five Ghostly Hitchhiker mysteries and five Silvermoon Retirement Village mysteries.
This criminally good event featured a great panel discussion between the writers that was unmissable for crime and thriller fans, but if you did miss it, do not fear – with the participants’ and Ngaio Marsh Awards’ permission, we were able to film the proceedings and are now proud to present a video of the evening.
You can now view the video below, or visit our You Tube channel here. And don’t forget to check out our first Ngaio Marsh Awards event at Karori Library here.
Slow down you’re here. / Gnanalingam, Brannavan “Kavita is stuck in a dead-end marriage. A parent of two small kids, she is the family’s main breadwinner. An old flame unexpectedly offers her a week away in Waiheke. If she were to go, she’s not sure when – or if – she’d come back.” (Adapted from catalogue)
Sprigs / Gnanalingam, Brannavan
“It is Saturday afternoon and two boys’ schools are locked in battle for college rugby supremacy. Priya – a fifteen year old who barely belongs – watches from the sidelines. Then it is Saturday night and the team is partying. Priya’s friends have evaporated and she isn’t sure what to do. In the weeks after ‘the incident’ life seems to go on. But when whispers turn to confrontation, the institutions of wealth and privilege circle the wagons.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
The leaning man / Harré, Anne
“Wellington. The land dips and rolls, the wind has a life of its own. It’s Saturday night down on the wharf. Celebrations are in full swing for the Westons’ fortieth wedding anniversary. Their daughter Stella has returned from London to attend. She’s now a private investigator in London, reduced to filming errant husbands for court cases. She doesn’t want to be home. Later that night her best friend Teri is found dead in a lane in the central city. Her phone is missing. It looks like suicide, but Stella won’t believe it. The race is on between those who want the phone, the homeless man who’s pocketed it, and Stella.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
She’s a killer. / McDougall, Kirsten
“Set in a very near future New Zealand where the effects of climate change are really beginning to bite and affect both our physical world but also our society.Full of spicy and fresh characters that leap of the book’s pages and a plot effortlessly moves from razor sharp humour to Climate fear driven sure shot action.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Tess / McDougall, Kirsten
“Tess is on the run when she’s picked up from the side of the road by lonely middle-aged father Lewis Rose. With reluctance, she’s drawn into his family troubles and comes to know a life she never had. Set in Masterton at the turn of the millennium, Tess is a gothic love story about the ties that bind and tear a family apart.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Troy’s possibilities / Strong, Rodney
“For Troy Messer, time travel is great on TV, but it’s not reality. Troy is afflicted by a condition that lets him live out different futures for himself – lots of them. Jaded by all the possibilities, he drifts from day to day never knowing if what he’s living is real life or just a possible one. When he first meets Cat, it’s not even close to love at first sight. She pepper sprays him and steals his phone. But then he meets her again, and again. Finally he becomes convinced that this funny, crazy woman might just be what he needs to make sense of his existence. But in his strange world of possiblities nothing is straightforward.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Recently, at Karori Library, we had the first of two crime-writing events run in conjunction with, and celebrating, the wonderful Ngaio Marsh awards. Both events featured a host of New Zealand’s finest crime and thriller writers. At the Karori event our fabulous panellists were:
Charity Norman as chair. Charity is the author of seven novels, including World Book Night title After The Fall and past Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists See you in September and The Secrets of Strangers. Charity was born in Uganda and worked as a lawyer in northern England before immigrating to New Zealand in 2002.
Helen Vivienne Fletcher is a playwright, poet, writing teacher and children’s author. She’s been shortlisted for the Joy Cowley Award and was named Outstanding Young Playwright at the Wellington Theatre Awards. Her first YA novel was a finalist for the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Awards.
Jennifer Lane is a copywriter, short story writer, and author. Her short stories have been published in journals and magazines in New Zealand and Australia. Jennifer’s debut novel, All Our Secrets, won the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel. Her latest novel, Miracle, is a finalist on 2023 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
And Alistair Luke. Alistair is a Wellington architect and debut novelist with a passion for our capital city’s history. A fourth-generation Wellingtonian, his first novel One Heart One Spade is a historical police procedural set locally in the late 1970s.
This criminally good event had a great panel discussion on how to craft memorable characters and create page-turning storylines. The event has now passed into history but with the participants and Ngaio Marsh Awards’ permission, we were able to film the proceedings and are now proud to present a video of the evening. You can now view the video below or visit our You Tube channel.
The video of our second Newtown event will be up soon as well. Below is a selection of titles from the authors involved which are available to borrow from the library.
The secrets of strangers / Norman, Charity
“Five strangers, one cafe – and the day that everything changed. A regular weekday morning veers drastically off-course for a group of strangers whose paths cross in a London cafe – their lives never to be the same again when an apparently crazed gunman holds them hostage. But there is more to the situation than first meets the eye and as the captives grapple with their own inner demons, the line between right and wrong starts to blur. Will the secrets they keep stop them from escaping with their lives?” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.
See you in September / Norman, Charity
“Having broken up with her boyfriend, Cassy accepts an invitation to stay in an idyllic farming collective. Overcome by the peace and beauty of the valley and swept up in the charisma of Justin, the community’s leader, Cassy becomes convinced that she has to stay. As Cassy becomes more and more entrenched in the group’s beliefs, her frantic parents fight to bring her home – before Justin’s prophesied Last Day can come to pass.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.
Miracle / Lane, Jennifer
“Born in the middle of Australia’s biggest-ever earthquake, Miracle is fourteen when her world crumbles. Thanks to her dad’s new job at Compassionate Cremations — which falls under suspicion for Boorunga’s spate of sudden deaths — the entire town turns against their family. She fears for her agoraphobic mother, and for her angelic, quake-damaged brother, Julian. When Oli plays a cruel trick on Miracle, he sets off a chain of devastating events. Then her dad is arrested for a brutal attack. How can she convince the town of her dad’s innocence?” ( Adapted from Catalogue)
All our secrets / Lane, Jennifer
“A girl called Gracie. A small town called Coongahoola with the dark Bagooli River running through it. The River Children – born in the aftermath of the infamous River Picnic. They begin to go missing, one after another. Gracie Barrett is the naively savvy spokesperson for her chaotic family, for the kids who are taken, for the lurking fear that locks down the town and puts everyone under suspicion. Coongahoola is where hope and fear collide, where tender adolescence is confronted by death, where kindness is a glimmer of light in the dark.”(Adapted from Catalogue)
Broken silence / Fletcher, Helen Vivienne
“A stranger just put Kelseys boyfriend in a coma. The worst part? She asked him to do it. Seventeen-year-old Kelsey is dealing with a lot an abusive boyfriend, a gravely ill mother, an absent father, and a confusing new love interest. After her boyfriend attacks her in public, a stranger on the end of the phone line offers to help. Kelsey pays little attention to his words, but the caller is deadly serious. Suddenly the people Kelsey loves are in danger, and only Kelsey knows it. Will Kelsey discover the identity of the caller before its too late?” (Adapted from Catalogue)
One heart one spade / Luke, Alistair
“Wellington, December 1977. Felicity Daniels is missing, and a murdered drug dealer has complicated things for Detective Lucas Cole. Around him the Criminal Investigation Branch starts to unravel. As the questions surface, Cole starts to wonder if one of their own is responsible. New bonds form, and old ones wilt under the pressure. Facts become fictions and fictions become facts, the most trusted becoming the most likely. With his own relationship on the rocks, Lucas is led down a path he might regret as he negotiates the personal and the professional to find both Felicity and his own soul. One Heart, One Spade is a compelling crime story about family, love and loss in 1970s New Zealand.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
