NZSA TOP OF THE SOUTH NEWS



NZSA TOP OF THE SOUTH NEWS

8 May 2015

Send Top of the South news to Chrissie Ward at cj.ward@xtra.co.nz or phone 03-546-9818. Let me know about meetings, coming events, book launches, new publications, literary successes, etc. Don’t forget to tell me if you change your email address. Past newsletters are archived for four weeks on our website writers.co.nz

BRANCH AGM TOMORROW

The Top of the South branch AGM takes place tomorrow Saturday 9 May at 1.30 pm. The venue is the Hearing House, 354 Trafalgar Square, Nelson (on the west side of the cathedral).

The previously announced guest speaker, Peter Rigg of Page & Blackmore Booksellers, had to pull out unexpectedly. Instead the speaker will be Axel de Maupeou, who is Team Leader, Festivals, at Nelson City Council. We are very grateful to Axel for stepping in at short notice, and look forward to what he has to tell us.

Following the guest speaker, we will be announcing the results of the short story competition sponsored by Page & Blackmore. Certificates and book vouchers will be presented to winning and shortlisted writers if they are present, and we would love to see as many entrants there as possible. Stay on for delicious refreshments and take the opportunity to socialise with your fellow writers.

BOOK LAUNCH IN NELSON

Page & Blackmore Booksellers and Titus Books invite you to the launch of No Relation, a book of short fiction by Thomas Pors Koed. The launch takes place on Tuesday 12 May, 5.30 pm at Page & Blackmore, 254 Trafalgar Street, Nelson. There will be readings by the author, and refreshments will be available.

Thomas Koed writes against the grain of contemporary New Zealand fiction. His short short stories challenge preconceptions about character and about the writing (and reading) of fiction. During the 1980s and 1990s Thomas was involved in running ‘illiterature’, an intermittent small press based in the South Island. He has been a rare book dealer, an occasional book designer and editor, and now works at Page & Blackmore. No Relation, a collection of short fiction, is his fifth book and his first in fourteen years. See or pre-order from pageandblackmore.co.nz

FOREST & BIRD POT-LUCK DINNER AND BOOK TALK

Golden Bay botanist Phillip Simpson will be talking about his latest non-fiction book Heartwood: Totara in New Zealand’s Natural and Cultural History on Wednesday 13 May at Tahunanui School Hall, Muritai Street, Tahunanui.

The evening begins with a pot-luck dinner at 6 pm; some wine and fruit juice will be supplied. At 7.30 pm Forest & Bird will hold its AGM (short), after which Phillip will speak. He is probably the country’s most respected author on trees, with his two award-winning titles on the cabbage tree (Dancing Leaves) and the pohutukawa and rata (New Zealand’s Iron-Hearted Trees). Drawing connections between nature and culture, and relating the science of trees to the mass of human experience with them, has become Phillips trademark.

Enquiries to: paulinebc@

AN EVENING OF POETRY IN LYTTELTON

If anyone will be in Canterbury next week, there is an opportunity to spend an evening with NZ Poet Laureate Vincent O’Sullivan and ‘a harbour of poets’ on Thursday 14 May from 7 pm. The other poets are Bernadette Hall, James Norcliffe, Jefrey Paparoa Holman, Kerrin P. Sharpe, Marisa Cappetta, Ciaran Fox and Roger Hickin. (Note that Bernadette Hall will be guest poet at Nelson Live Poets’ next meeting on Monday 25 May.) The venue is Freemans Dining Room, 47 London Street, Lyttelton, phone 03-328 7517. This event is part of the National Library of New Zealand Poet Laureate Programme.

WW1 COMMEMORATIVE EVENTS IN NELSON LIBRARY

Nelson Libraries are holding a series of free events to commemorate World War One. Some taking place at Elma Turner Library next week:

War Poems

Poets are invited to read a poem relating to World War One, either their own or a favourite. Just turn up – everyone is welcome. Any queries, contact Carol Ercolano on 03-545 0162.

Friday 15 May, 12 – 1 pm. A free event.

Author Talk: Nelson 1914

Author Jennifer Baungard talks about her book Nelson 1914. The book is a month by month account of what was happening in Nelson City at the outbreak of WW1, as well as developments in the war overseas between January and December 1914. This is a fascinating document of Nelson life at a time of radical change.

Sunday 17 May, 2 pm. $2 entry.

NEW BOOK FOR KAREN

Pasta, Prayer and Promise - The Story of Nelson’s Italian Community 1860-2014 by Karen Price and Karen Stade was launched in Nelson on

5 May.

Pasta, Prayer and Promise reveals the previously untold story of Nelson’s Italian community, from the miners who arrived chasing gold in the 1860s, to the market gardeners who carved out a living in city soils. The story has gone largely unrecrded until now and comes after five years of intensive research and interviews.  Lavishly illustrated, it examines why Italians chose to leave the country of their birth and travel to 'the ends of the earth' to settle in Nelson. 

Karen Price has had nearly 25 years in the publishing and printing industries and for the past 10 years has been director of Nelson publishing company Contexo.

NZSA local branch member Karen Stade is a professional writer who has produced a succession of Nelson history books, including Meet You at the Church Steps, a social history of a Nelson landmark, and Appo Hocton – New Zealand’s First Chinese Immigrant. This is the first time the two have researched and written a book together.

Pasta , Prayer and Promise is available from: Contexo, 26 Tipahi Street, Nelson 7010, ph: 03 546 6394, mobile: 027 238 1819, email: info@contexo.co.nz;   Karen Stade's website: or Page and Blackmore Booksellers, Nelson.

MARLBOROUGH BOOK FESTIVAL

Tickets are now on sale for the second Marlborough Book Festival, which takes place Friday 24 – Sunday 26 July. Nine of New Zealand’s contemporary writers, and one documentary maker, will be interviewed by Marlborough personalities at beautiful venues in and around Blenheim.

The writers coming are: Joy Cowley, Patricia Grace, Liam McIlvanney, Fiona Farrell, Nicky Pellegrino, Joe Bennett, Nicky Hager, Mike White and Judith Hunt, plus Judith Curran, producer of the documentary series Our Big Blue Backyard.

Some events are expected to sell out quickly, so don’t delay! For the full programme and to buy tickets, see marlboroughbookfest.co.nz

LUKE BITMEAD BURSARY FOR UNPUBLISHED NOVELS

The prize was set up in honour of Luke Bitmead. His debut novel was the first novel Legend Press published, but he sadly died shortly after it appeared. The award has been set up by his mother in partnership with Legend Press to support and encourage the work of struggling writers, and is the UK’s biggest prize for unpublished authors.

Submissions must be adult fiction, and only completed novels of at least 50,000 words will be considered. The prize is a publishing contract with Legend Press and a £2,500 cash bursary. Submissions are now open, and close on 1 August 2015. Entry Fee: £10 per entry to support the prize. For full guidelines, see:  

POETRY IN THE NELSON MUSEUM WINDOW

Each month a poem is displayed in the Trafalgar Street window of Nelson Provincial Museum. The May poem being displayed in the Museum window is 1915 The Nelson Evening Mail Prints Daily by Fiona Summerfield. The war poem being displayed upstairs in the ANZAC exhibition is ANZAC Daze by Mary Thornton. Unusually, both this month’s poets are members of TOS branch. We look forward to reading their poems.

Carol Ercolano is always looking for poems suitable for the window. Theme: preferably reflecting the Top of the South, although it is more important to display poems that people passing by and stopping to read can readily identify with. The museum is also involved in the selection process.

Length: preferably not more than 30 lines, as the lettering can become too small to be read comfortably from the footpath. However, an extract from a longer poem could be displayed as lines from ....  If you would like a poem of yours considered for the window, send a selection of up to three as attachments to Carol Ercolano at c.ercolano@kinect.co.nz

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