 Kia ora,
Many congratulations to Mo Zhi Hong on winning the Best First Book Award (South East Asia and the South Pacific) section of this year’s Commonwealth Writers' Prize.
Wonderful news and made doubly so by the fact that the presentations for the overall award will be announced at the upcoming Auckland Writers and Readers Festival, a great boon for the festival which already has an all star line-up in place for May. Some of the writers involved in the awards will be touring the country and we will be bringing you details of public events in both Hawke's Bay and Wellington very soon.
Huge thanks to our intrepid authors from this year’s Words on Wheels tour. Steve Braunias, Anna MacKenzie, Janet Charman, Vanda Symon and David Geary toured the lower regions of the South Island to enthusiastic audiences from Christchurch to Queenstown nobly guided by the lovely Kathryn Carmody. Words on Wheels is a hugely important programme for the Book Council, providing an opportunity for writers from a range of genres and disciplines to meet with and engage with readers in their own communities across New Zealand. See some photos taken on tour, featured along the right-hand sidebar.
Last week saw the launch of our new online publication for schools, The School Library and our new issue of Booknotes is just around the corner. Also our new-look website is nearing completion and we’re busily helping put together the author tour for the 2009 New Zealand Post Awards which take place in early May.
Best wishes,
Noel
Wine and Writers - What a Match
 The Hastings Festival of Writers grew out of a series of events at Te Mata Estate in the barrel rooms of the winery in Havelock North into the biennial festival it is now, with a brilliant reputation for fine wine, fine food, and fine writers.
Run by a small committee called Writers in Wineries, made up of enthusiastic volunteers with a passion for literature, led by Community Arts Advisor and poet Keith Thorsen, and including Robyn Giles and Katherine Edmund. The connection with wineries is not accidental, says Thorsen, 'We live in Hawke's Bay wine country and see the connection between fine words, fine wine and fine food as being important to our region. We are wanting to avoid the lecture theatre approach, preferring the companionship of a table of friends.'
'A Night of Pleasure with Te Mata Estate' will be held in the Assembly Room at the Hawke's Bay Opera House. The Assembly Room is a cabaret-style room seating up to 200 around tables of ten. There are platters provided on the tables and Te Mata Estate wine is for sale. 'The Taste of Pleasure' will be held at Clearview Estate in Te Awanga which is on the beach about 20 minutes out of Hastings.
CK Stead, Michele Leggott, Sarah Quigley, Martin Edmond, Peter Wells, and Australian writer Roger McDonald will all feature in the programme over the weekend.
For further information about events over the festival, which runs from 20-22 March, please see our events listings to the right.
Mo Zhi Hong in the running for Best First Book in the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
 Regional Winners for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book and Best First Book were announced on 11 March in London.
New Zealand's Mo Zhi Hong was awarded Best First Book Prize for South East Asia and the South Pacific for his book, The Year of The Shanghai Shark (Penguin NZ, 2008).
Other winners are listed to the right of this page.
The regional winners are invited to take part in a programme of cultural exchange to be held in Hawke's Bay and Wellington 11-14 May before coming to Auckland to join the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival from 14-17 May. Two overall winners, chosen by an international panel of six judges, will be announced at the Commonwealth Writers' Prize Awards Ceremony on 16 May at the ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre 7.30 - 9.00pm.
While we are awaiting final confirmation of the full list of writers who will visit New Zealand, we can confirm Marina Endicott, Christos Tsiolkas, Mo Zhi Hong, Joan Thomas, and Mohammed Hanif will be part of the touring group.
The New Zealand Book Council will host an event in Wellington on 12 May. Details will be available on our website as announced.
Bill Nagelkerke talks about judging the NZ Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
 Reading and re-reading around 140 books doesn't leave a great deal of time for much else, but the convening judge of the New Zealand Post children's book awards, Bill Nagelkerke, likes to think that reading so many good books can only help with one's own writing.
Publishers are still taking risks and some of the finalist titles were published in Australia, the United States, and England, which is a good reflection of the quality of work being published. Nagelkerke says there is a welcome variety of styles and subjects in the final selection, and a pleasing numbers of new authors and illustrators rubbing shoulders with some of the greats.
The finalists are:
Picture Book
Duck’s Stuck! written by Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly  (Scholastic New Zealand)
Every Second Friday written by Kiri Lightfoot, illustrated by Ben Galbraith
(Hodder Children’s Books)
Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig written by Diana Neild, illustrated by Philip Webb (Scholastic New Zealand)
Roadworks written by Sally Sutton, illustrated by Brian Lovelock (Walker Books)
The Were-Nana written by Melinda Szymanik, illustrated by Sarah Nelisiwe Anderson (Scholastic New Zealand)
Non-fiction
 Back & Beyond: New Zealand Painting for the Young & Curious
by Gregory O’Brien (Auckland University Press)
The Crafting of Narnia: The Art, Creatures, and Weapons from Weta Workshop
by Weta Workshop, Paul Tobin and Daniel Falconer (HarperOne)
High-Tech Legs on Everest by Mark Inglis with Sarah Ell
(Random House New Zealand)
Juicy Writing: Inspiration and Techniques for Young Writers by Brigid Lowry (Allen & Unwin)
Piano Rock: A 1950s Childhood by Gavin Bishop (Random House New Zealand)
Junior Fiction
 Chicken Feathers by Joy Cowley, illustrated by David Elliot (Puffin)
Enemy at the Gate by Philippa Werry (Scholastic New Zealand)
Five (and a bit) Days in the Life of Ozzie Kingsford written by Val Bird,
illustrated by Rebecca Cundy (Random House New Zealand)
Old Drumble by Jack Lasenby (HarperCollins Publishers)
Payback by Michelle Kelly (Scholastic New Zealand)
Young Adult Fiction
The 10pm Question by Kate de Goldi (Longacre Press) 
Chronicles of Stone #1, Scorched Bone by Vincent Ford (Scholastic New Zealand)
Gool by Maurice Gee (Puffin)
Juno of Taris by Fleur Beale (Random House New Zealand)
The Tomorrow Code by Brian Falkner (Walker Books)
Judging the awards has given Nagelkerke an insight into the children's publishing scene, and he can happily report that the market is very sound, though who knows what will happen in the next few years as the recession bites.
Did he notice any common themes or places cropping up? Nagelkerke notes, 'interestingly, there were quite a number of horse and pony stories this year, with more on the way. Also, and not surprisingly, a number of books dealing with the effects of environmental despoliation. There were three non-fiction books about art; and two junior fiction titles take place during the depression of the 1930s. By and large the settings of the books were New Zealand, but not exclusively. Some titles, including one of the finalists, an historical novel, takes place elsewhere. That our writers can now comfortably move away from placing their stories locally are perhaps a sign of increased confidence and maturity.'
Though trends and influences are hard to spot, what he can say with certainty is that each of the finalists has material that has been written because the writer has wanted to tell the story, and they've told it in ways unique to them which has made being a judge a highly rewarding experience.
by Susanna Andrew
Emily Perkins wins some Believers
 Emily Perkins has won the prestigious Believers prize in the US for the best work of fiction published in 2008 for her book, Novel About My Wife (Allen & Unwin).
The book was chosen from a shortlist of novels by the editors' of The Believer magazine, a strand of the famous McSweeneys publishing group. The shortlist of the best book 2008 and the editors views are available online here.
Crikey, the longlist looked pretty illustrious! Tell me, did this come as a surprise, or had they released a shortlist?
There was a shortlist in the February issue - which was a surprise. A friend from London emailed it to me ( The Believer arrives very late in NZ). But the editors' shortlist is different from that longlist of readers' picks in the March/April issue. My book won the award granted by the editors.
How have your publishers reacted to this news - what has been the print run like in the US and was there a different edition in Canada? Is the cover very different?
The covers are the same everywhere except the Canadian paperback, out this year, which has a slightly different use of the image. The woman on the cover is my UK publisher's French teacher and she's pretty amazing. I don't know the print run in the US - small, I should think. All of my publishers are very pleased about the award - The Believer has a loyal literary readership.
The judges mentioned your book had been 'overlooked' in the States compared to its release in the UK, which is not uncommon, as they are entirely different markets. How well has it gone in the UK?
The UK hardback/trade paperback print runs have had a couple of reprints, and the B-format paperback comes out there in April. There were a few reviews in the US but better coverage in the UK.
Has winning the prize meant any US media interest sniffing around?
Not yet - I know Bloomsbury US are hopeful though, so we'll see!
There is usually more collateral in winnning the prize as an outsider, than someone who has had their book already bandied about - any plans for a trip to the States this year?
I wish! I'm going to London and Albania to research my next book. If I had any brains I'd have set it in Tuscany or Belize, but no, Albania calls.
Other than the glory and prestige, which hopefully translates into sales, was there any gong/ribbon offered?
No medals alas, just the pleasure of the book having been noticed by a group of editors I have huge respect for, so it's been very pleasing. Maybe a rosette would be nice, as I was never a horsey girl.
Interview by Susanna Andrew
NZ Post National Schools Writing Festival and Poetry Awards
Teachers and secondary school students should keep an eye out for details of this year’s New Zealand Post National Schools Writing Festival and Poetry Awards, which will be sent to schools during the first week of March. As in the last two Awards, there are two poetry prizes – one for best poem, selected by a leading New Zealand poet, the other for best lyric, which will be chosen by a well-known New Zealand songwriter. All poems submitted will be automatically entered in both categories. What’s new in 2009 is that the Poetry Awards will be open to Year 11 as well as year 12 and 13 students. Information packs will go to the HOD English in every secondary school, and students can find out more in the March issue of Tearaway magazine. Information on the 2008 Awards and Festival can be found here and here.
Pikihuia Awards open for entries
The Māori Literature Trust and Huia Publishers have seen the interest in this biennial competition triple since it started and believe giving new authors the chance to be published in the increasingly popular Huia Short Stories or Ngā Pakiwaitara a Huia series is a real draw card.
A nationwide hunt is now on for talented Māori writers. Entries have been sent far and wide encouraging whānau and friends to put pen to paper or fingers on keyboards and write their stories for the Pikihuia Awards 2009.
Entries are downloadable at www.huia.co.nz and the competition closes 15 May. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in September in Wellington.
The categories for Pikihuia Awards for Māori Writers 2009 are:
• Best short story in Māori
• Best short story in English
• Best novel extract (up to 5,000 words)
• Best short film script
• Best short story in English or Māori by a secondary school student
The judges include; Julian Wilcox (Ngā Puhi), David Geary (Ngā Māhanga, Taranaki), Briar Grace-Smith (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Wai) and Rhonda Kite (Te Aupouri).
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 The New Zealand Book Council receives core funding from Creative New Zealand. We are extremely grateful to our funding partners, who enable us to deliver our programmes. We also value your membership, which supports our work in schools and communities throughout New Zealand.
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Karen Monk, from Corran School, was the lucky winner of Misconduct (Penguin NZ), by Bridget van der Zijpp.
Haley Fenwick has won the Commonwealth Prize-nominated The Year of the Shanghai Shark (Penguin NZ), by Mo Zhi Hong.
Robin Holding is the winner of a copy of Forbidden Cities (Penguin), by Paula Morris.
Congratulations to all of the writers nominated in the NZ Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. We will be giving away some of the books nominated for these awards over the coming months.
 Old Drumble (HarperCollins, 2008) by Jack Lasenby
 Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig (Scholastic, 2008) by Diana Neild, illustrated by Philip Webb
 Juno of Taris (Random House, 2008) by Fleur Beale
To enter the draw for any of the books listed above, please email reception@bookcouncil.org.nz with the title of the book and your Book Council membership number in the subject line. Entries must be in by 5pm on Monday 23 March.
One of the wonders of modern technology is that even if your favourite writer passed away 100 years ago, you can still find their mark everywhere on the Internet.
I came across a great site called the Chronicles of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle here, complete with an 'Ask Sherlock Holmes' button for those hard-to-make decisions. I have been following Samuel Pepys' diary online for over a year now, as my fiance and I used to work in a bookstore, and Pepys figured in our courtship.
And if you are interested in writers from closer to home, Katherine Mansfield House hosts an excellent collection of resources about Katherine Mansfield.
Words on Wheels hits Cromwell - David Geary, Janet Charman, Vanda Symon, Anna Mackenzie and Steve Braunias.
The full list of finalists in the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Awards:
South East Asia and the South Pacific
Best Book Award - Christos Tsiolkas, The Slap
Best First Book Award - Mo Zhi Hong, The Year of the Shanghai Shark
Europe and South Asia
Best Book award - Jhumpa Lahiri, Unaccustomed Earth
Best First Book Award - Mohammed Hanif, A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Canada and the Caribbean
Best Book Award - Marina Endicott, Good to a Fault
Best First Book Award - Joan Thomas, Reading by Lightning
Africa
Best Book Award - Mandla Langa, The Lost Colours of the Chameleon
Best First Book Award - Uwem Akpan, Say You're One of Them
Tai Tapu Library, with our WOW writers Vanda Symon, Janet Charman, David Geary, tour leader Kathryn Carmody, Anna Mackenzie and Steve Braunias.
Auckland, Spoken Word Jazz Beats session
Fleet FM's notorious 'Dirty Words' Show is pleased to present... a monthly Spoken Word Jazz Beat Session featuring some of the bravest and best spoken word artists set to live & digital music.
Venue: 469 Karangahape Rd, Auckland City
Cost: $10 at the door R18
Contact: Event webpage
Hastings, Brunch With the Writers
Sunday March 22, 11.00am
Enjoy a relaxing brunch with CK Stead and Roger McDonald. They will read from their works and talk about writing. Numbers are limited to 30 so it is a relaxed intimate affair.
Venue: St George’s Estate Winery and Restaurant
Cost: $30 including a complimentary glass of bubbly and the brunch menu.
Hastings, An Audience with Roger McDonald, Peter Wells and Martin Edmond
Saturday March 21, 2.00pm–
All of these writers have a strong element of place in their writing. They discuss the importance and meaning of place to them and their work.
Venue: Hastings Library
Cost: free event, please register with the Hastings Library 878 0520 so they know how many people are coming. Tea and coffee will be supplied.
Auckland, LIANZA event
Tuesday 24 March, 6.00pm onwards, drinks from 5.30pm
Jenni Barr and Phillip Newman from AgResearch in Hamilton are will be talking at the March LIANZA meeting. They will talk to us about their roles as Embedded Knowledge Advisors and the delivery of "reference services plus" at AgResearch Ruakura - how they work with and within science groups, and what else they provide besides traditional references services.
Venue: Plant & Food Research, Mt Albert, 120 Mt Albert Road, Auckland 1025
Christchurch, Margaret Mahy Medal Award Lecture and Annual General Meeting
Saturday 28 March 2009, 10.15am–2.30pm
Natural history writer and photographer Andrew Crowe is the first non-fiction writer to win the country’s top children’s literature prize, the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal. He will give the keynote lecture at this Storylines event.
Cost: $25 for members; $35 for Non-members; $10 for Child/Student with ID (lecture only)
Venue: Heaton Normal Intermediate School,125/133 Heaton Street, Merivale, Christchurch
Registration Forms available online or from The Children’s Bookshop, 87 Victoria Street, Chch (03) 366 5274
Wellington, Art at Te Papa: Special tour with the authors
Thursday 2 April, 6.00–7.30pm
Featuring Roger Blackley, Charlotte Huddelston, Willian McAloon, Athol McCredie, Tony Mackle, Jonathan Mane-Wheoki, David Maskill, Vicki Robson, Megan Tamati-Quennell and Jill Trevelyan
Venue: Meet at the entrance to Toi Te Papa, Level 5
Cost: Free, and Art at Te Papa is available on the night at a special 15% discount at Te Papa Store.
Wellington, Bard's Birthday Dinner
Thursday 23 April 2009
Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand and the Wellington Shakespeare Society are holding a dinner to celebrate Shakespeare’s 445th Birthday, the 400th anniversary of the publication of his Sonnets, the 15th anniversary of the Official Unveiling of NZ’s gift of Globe Hangings to the Globe in London and in association with our Compleate Workes 2009. The dinner will hosted by the Minister of Arts Culture and Heritage Hon. Christopher Finlayson, with great guest speakers and performers. All welcome!
Venue: Grand Hall, Parliament, Wellington
Cost: $58 for SGCNZ Members, $70 Non-members, includes a three-course dinner
Contact: Please make cheques payable to SGCNZ and send by 1 April to Dawn Sanders QSM, SGCNZ PO Box 17 215, Wellington 6147
WOW writers Janet Charman, Anna Mackenzie and David Geary relaxing with librarian Joan Gill, at Mackenzie Community Library.
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