Publisher Aardvark Bureau asked the authors of their first three titles for 2016 for their best reads of 2015: You’ll be hearing lots more about these fabulous writers in the new year, but for now, we’ve asked three of them to share their stand-out reads of 2015 – after all, what better way of getting to know someone than by … Read more…
Helen Garner
In praise of useless beauty
I’m not sure whether the 2000-odd-seat ASB Theatre was sold out for Tim Winton’s Auckland Writers Festival 2015 (AWF15) session last Sunday morning, but it was certainly close to packed, and there was a lot of love in the room for Winton. I was seated wa-a-aay up in the gods, which felt like an appropriate … Read more…
‘Loss and Love’ at 2015 Auckland Writers Festival
I’m looking forward to heading up to Auckland next month for Auckland Writers Festival. This’ll be my third time heading up to Auckland for the writers festival (I wrote about the 2014 festival here and here), but my first time on the programme. The festival has got bigger and better each year that I’ve been, … Read more…
The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt shortlisted for 2014 Barbara Jefferis Award
Like Jane Rawson, for me there are some days and weeks when this authoring business feels like an awful lot of hard work, and I cry into my porridge in despair that anyone will ever read – let alone see merit in – a thing I write. And then there are weeks like this. So, I hope you’ll forgive some skiting and own-trumpet-blowing. There’ve … Read more…
Tracy Farr on Helen Garner’s Postcards from Surfers
Perth writer Annabel Smith invited me to write about a favourite book – and what it means to me – for the Friday Faves feature on her website. I chose Helen Garner’s 1985 collection of short stories, Postcards from Surfers. This book reminds me why I go back to Helen Garner’s writing, why I love … Read more…