True Stories Told Live
True Stories comes to Wellington - a rare night of live storytelling
The Book Council’s True Stories Told Live comes to Wellington for the first time early next month, promising all the drama, intimacy and surprises that have kept sell-out Auckland audiences entertained for the past two years.
Seven extraordinary writers will lay down their pens and step away from their laptops to tell stories the old-fashioned way to raise funds for the Book Council at the October 6 event.
 Elizabeth Knox, Kate De Goldi, Neil Cross, Duncan Sarkies, Jenny Pattrick, Craig Cliff and Chris Bourke will have ten minutes each to tell their personal tales. And like our popular Auckland True Stories events, there will be no notes, readings or questions. Just true stories that will have you hooked and keep you that way.
'At True Stories Told Live, the story must have a beginning, middle and an end, and it must be true, but that’s all’ says the Book Council’s Susanna Andrew.
 ‘What makes these events so special,’ she adds, ‘is not just the confessional quality of the performance. It's also the suspension of judgement that's required, a critical faculty we would normally employ, consciously or not, when we embark on a novel, start a film, or sit down in the theatre. Putting aside judgement as the lights go down makes us open to another's story and point of view. Somebody is telling you this. It happened. It’s true.’
The event will raise funds for the Book Council’s Writers in Schools programme, which has been bringing books, authors and children together since 1973.
The Book Council is very excited to have some of the biggest names in New Zealand writing come out to raise money for Writers in Schools. CEO Noel Murphy says that Writers in Schools is a programme dedicated to ‘creating the writers and readers of the future, so to have the support of these incredible authors is very special.’
If rapt  True Stories Auckland punters are to be believed True Stories Told Live will add an invigorating literary thread to the Wellington events scene.
Blogger Graham Beattie described the True Stories event that launched the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival in May as 'a huge hit'. Christchurch Libraries said, 'this truly was a great night out... Stories ranged from the sublime to the gloriously ridiculous, from the deeply moving to the slightly dodgy, all told in the best storytelling manner... we could have staye d twice as long.'
Internationally, live storytelling events are the hot new literary ticket, with trademarked storytelling organizations such as The Moth or The Stoop selling out within 48 hours and creating the sort of buzz that  rock concerts are famous for.
So come along to True Stories Told Live and support the Book Council to create happy young readers. And as our youngest readers already know, something magic happens when a hero or heroine is taken by surprise by the very journey he or she is faced with. The unexpected happens, or a promise is broken, and when the voyage is interrupted it must begin again somewhere new. True Stories Told Live offers something akin for Wellington audiences – a ticke t to somewhere unexpected, transporting listeners as they discover the extraordinary in the ordinary.
True Stories Told Live: October 6 at 6.00pm, St Andrew's on the Terrace, The Terrace, Wellington. Get your tickets now: $20 ($15 for members), on the door or online at www.bookcouncil.org.nz
Five Easy Questions with Chris Bourke
 Chris Bourke is a writer, journalist, and radio producer. He is the author of the multi-award-winning book Blue Smoke: The Lost Dawn of New Zealand Popular Music 1918-1964, which was the 2011 NZ Post Book Awards Book of the Year, winner of the General Non-Fiction category and the People's Choice Award. Chris Bourke will speak at the Book Council's next True Stories Told Live fundraiser.
1. What led you to focus on music evolution in the period 1918-64?
1918 because by the end of the First World War, the world had changed: it was smaller, our connections with the old world were faster, technology was evolving quickly - which meant people heard new types of music via the radio or on 78s - and new dance styles and rhythms changed our social habits. 1964 because that's when the Beatles visited New Zealand and they changed popular music so emphatically. Brass sections and velvet bow-tied or gowned singers were old hat, hair and guitars with amplifiers were in.
2. Blue Smoke is richly illustrated. Did it take you long to gather the visual material for the book?
The whole time I was researching and writing the book, I was keeping an eye out for images. But it was only when the manuscript was delivered that I had time to drive around the country, re-visit my interviewees and scan their photo albums on their kitchen tables. I also visited the Sound Archives in Christchurch who had a great stash of broadcasting/music photos that I was familiar with from my time at the Listener, and order pictures from public collections such as the Alexander Turnbull Library and Auckland Public Library. That took about three intense months - at the same time editing queries and proofs were coming back for checking.
3. Were you surprised at times by what you discovered about NZ popular music history?
I had a feeling that all our styles and sub-cultures of popular music were connected, and it was wonderful the way that this emerged naturally from all the research, like a photo developing in the dark room. Two things that surprised me were how quickly we caught up with overseas trends - even before air travel, the latest discs and sheet music arrived in just a matter of weeks, or new songs instantly via shortwave radio. Another surprise was how dominant Maori performers were, right from the beginning of the century to the arrival of rock'n'roll - in all genres.
4. Do you write or play music yourself?
I play the piano for my own amusement, which is different from the amusement it gives others, on the rare occasion anyone else gets to hear it.
5. What’s on your bedside table?
No Fretful Sleeper: A Life of Bill Pearson, by Paul Millar (AUP); Mune: an Autobiography, by Ian Mune (Craig Potton); The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock'n'Roll, by Preston Lauterbach (Norton); Da Capo Best Music Writing 2010, ed Ann Powers (Da Capo); and The Missing, by Tim Gautreaux (Knopf).
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Five Easy Questions with Poia Rewi
 Dr Poia Rewi (Ngati Tuhoe, Ngati Manawa, Te Arawa) is an associate professor in Te Tumu, the School of Maori, Pacific, and Indigenous Studies at the University of Otago, Dunedin. His book, Whaikorero: The World of Maori Oratory, was winner of the 2011 NZSA E.H. McCormick Best First Book Award for Non-Fiction.
1. What inspired you to write a book about Whaikorero?
The book was driven foremost by my doctoral studies, which grew out of my personal passion to record knowledge and retain it for future posterity. Secondly, in my travels I often heard pearls of knowledge about Maori customary practices being oralised by some individuals who I knew had been informed by others, but sometimes did not attribute the source of that knowledge, therefore, the book became my attempt to acknowledge informants formally of their contribution to the field. Thirdly, there seemed to be a glaring paucity of information on Whaikorero compacted into a single text.
2. What was the most enjoyable part of your research for the book?
The interviews with the informants.
3. Can you name an interesting insight or experience you had while writing?
Translating and reworking the thesis text to transform the work from an academic text to better public readability was the first challenge. While writing, another challenge was the auto-formatting of editors which sometimes moulded direct quotes into the main body, therefore requiring me to re-check and ensure direct quotes were sourced to avoid plagiarism. Another was the auto-macronisation of Maori words which, similar to the above, then required me to review source texts, some of which were very difficult to acquire.
4. What are you working on at the moment?
I am currently involved with major research projects on Maori language revitalisation, funded/commissioned by Nga Pae O Te Maramatanga/Centre of Research Excellence.
5. What's on your bedside table?
My cellphone, throat lozenges and a reading lamp.
What's new on bookcouncil.org.nz
Sarah Forster writes home from 826 Valencia Part 2
 In case you missed our Facebook post and link to Book Council Education Manager Sarah Forster's latest 826 Valencia diary entries, you can click through to www.bookcouncil.org.nz to read on.
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Short fiction turns up the volume online
 We also posted Jessie Borrelle's article on the latest incarnations of fiction online at www.bookcouncil.org.nz this month. If you missed our link to it on Facebook and you're addicted to all things podcast, read on and click through for the full piece.
"Almost half a century ago, in 1967, French theorist Roland Barthes argued that, in literature, the literary work and its creator are unrelated. And so we began mourning the death of the Author. Since then it has seemed like one endless funeral party. The Oxford comma, the novel, the iPod, the book, publishing, the internet, MySpace, the global economy and handwriting are among other supposed fatalities of late, so it is concerning to hear reports surfacing that claim the short story, too, is staring down the sawn-off shotgun of extinction.
"But don’t send your commiserations just yet. The short story is not withering away on its deathbed, this is a simple case of reincarnation. If you are on the hunt for short fiction, there is strong evidence that, while its numbers are declining in traditional habitats such as bookstores, short fiction has adapted well to a migratory existence. We are seeing it appear more frequently in a diversity of environments and incarnations, especially online."
Read the full article here at www.bookcouncil.org.nz.
Residency, workshop and competition opportunities
Please note this is only a sample of literary opportunities from the news page on our website:
University of Waikato/Creative New Zealand Writer in Residence 2012
Each year the University of Waikato invites applications for the position of Writer in Residence, tenable for twelve months normally from February.
The emolument is currently $45,000 jointly funded by the University of Waikato and Creative New Zealand, the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa.
The position is open to poets, novelists, short story writers, dramatists, and writers of serious non-fiction. Enquiries can be made to Dr Sarah Shieff, telephone 07 8562889 extension 8425, email: sshieff@waikato.ac.nz. Closing date: 21 October 2011 Vacancy number: 310218. For more information and to apply, visit www.jobs.waikato.ac.nz
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Four writers’ residencies available in 2012
The Michael King Writers’ Centre is calling for applications from New Zealand writers for four supported residencies in 2012.
• The Summer Residency, eight weeks from January 9 (stipend $8,000);
• The Autumn Residency, eight weeks from March 14 (stipend $8,000);
• The Maori Writer’s Residency, eight weeks from May 16 (stipend $8,000);
• The University of Auckland Residency, six months from July 12 (stipend/salary of $30,000), to coincide with the University’s second semester.
The eight-week residencies are open to emerging or established writers, while the six-month residency offered in partnership with The University of Auckland is for an established author who may benefit from an academic environment.
Application forms and further information are available on the centre’s website or from the centre. Applications close on Monday October 10, 2011.
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NZ writers invited to apply for Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship 2012
Established and mid-career New Zealand writers are invited to apply for the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship 2012.
The fellowship offers a residency of at least six months in Menton, France and NZ$75,000. The support of the city of Menton enables a New Zealand author to work at the Villa Isola Bella where Katherine Mansfield lived and wrote during the latter part of her life.
For more information on how to apply for The Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship please download the call for applications or contact Felicity Birch, Arts Adviser on felicity.birch@creativenz.govt.nz or call (04) 498 0735. Applications close at 5pm on Friday 14 October 2011.
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The Friends of the Turnbull Library Research Grant 2012
The Friends of the Turnbull Library Research grant (which has not been awarded for the last two years, during renovations to the National Library) is once again being offered for 2012.
Scholars undertaking research in the collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library are invited to apply for the grant, worth up to $10,000 now offered by The Friends of the Turnbull Library.
The closing date for applications is Monday 31 October 2011.
Further information about the Research grant, terms and conditions, and applications forms may be found on the FoTL website: www.turnbullfriends.org.nz
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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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The two winners of 
In October Where's Wally? by Martin Handford is twenty-five years old. Walker Books are celebrating with reissue of the classic picture book and Where's Wally?: 25th Anniversary Edition is fiendishly difficult according to the book rep. who visits us. For those who can remember the original edition of Where's Wally? it's amazing that illustrator Martin Handford did not rely on modern computer technology to make his illustrations.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin, retold by M. Morpurgo and illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark. This hardback modern retelling of the classic children's tale by Michael Morpurgo is beautifully illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark, a favourite of mine. Morpurgo masterfully weaves contemporary social and environmental themes into this familiar classic tale of betrayal and its consequences.
Bruiser by author/illustrator 
