The Marlborough Book Festival

Mrs Jewell and the Wreck of the General Grant is a vivid imagining of the story behind the southern hemisphere's most famous shipwreck. The gold-laden General Grant struck the Auckland Islands in 1866, with just 14 men and a single woman making it to shore.

The mystery of what happened to the ship has attracted treasure hunters and adventurers ever since, and fascinated author Cristina Sanders and interviewer, journalist Mike White. This session is from the 2023 Marlborough Book Festival.

 

Gavin Lang's book Seeking the Light is about climbing the country’s highest mountains that rise above 3000m, but it's about the importance of getting outdoors to improve health and wellbeing.

Inspiring and exhilarating, each story captures the tension and drama of mountaineering in Aotearoa, and is vividly brought to life with Gavin’s outstanding photography. Gavin’s work is a beautiful and original contribution to mountain lore and literature.

Gavin was talking with fellow outdoorsman Mike White at the 2023 Marlborough Book Festival. 

Two consistencies throughout Eileen Merriman’s childhood were her fascination with the human body and a desire to be a doctor. She worked hard at science but excelled at English.

From doctor to fiction writer, the award-winning author delves into the science of blood and bone and the intricate depths of heart and soul during a conversation with Tessa Nicholson during the 2023 Marlborough Book Festival.

An utterly believable mimicking magpie narrates this extraordinary story set in the beautiful yet harsh landscape of Central Otago. Catherine Chidgey discusses her inspiration for the novel, with its exploration of themes encompassing domestic violence, the challenges of farming, the weird world of internet fame, and the vagaries of human relationships with animals, which she suggests can be at once closely bonded and exploitative.

Catherine was in conversation with Nikki Macdonald at the 2023 Marlborough Book Festival.

In his latest book, the Ockham illustrated non-fiction award-winning Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand, Nick Bollinger tells the story of beards and bombs, freaks and firebrands, self-destruction and self-realisation, during the ‘60s and ‘70s, a turbulent and definitive period in New Zealand’s history and culture. ‘Bollinger puts a personal and personable stamp on this critical decade with words, sights and sounds that surprise and delight,’ writes cultural historian Bronwyn Labrum.

Nick was in conversation with Robbie Burton at the 2023 Marlborough Book Festival.

Hear a selection of guest authors take their work off the page and onto the stage in the gala opening of the 2023 Marlborough Book Festival.

In order, the audience heard from Joanne Drayton, Eileen Merriman, Cristina Sanders, Michael Bennett and Joanna Preston.

Their stories - whether true, imagined or a blurring of both - certainly got to the heart of the matter.  They'll certainly make you want to hear more. This was a special event to launch the festival, providing a taste of the treats ahead over the weekend to come.

 

Paula Morris has become a vital voice in New Zealand literature, with highly acclaimed short stories, essays and novels, including 'Rangatira', fiction winner at the 2012 NZ Post Book Awards and Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards. But her work goes well beyond her own pen, as an advocate for New Zealand literature and Māori writers.

Paula is the founder of the Academy of New Zealand Literature and Wharerangi, the Māori literature hub, and co-editor of 'Ko Aotearoa Tātou', an anthology of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and visual art created in response to the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks.

Paula speaks to fellow novelist Rachael King at the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival about a literary life, as writer, teacher, mentor and advocate.

Kate Camp’s most recent collection of poetry, How To Be Happy Though Human, is strikingly apt for current times.

In conversation with Cliff Fell at the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival, Kate discusses her influences and inspirations behind her highly acclaimed poetry, and reads selected poems.

Place and story go hand in hand. Landscape must first live on the page for it to blossom in the mind of the reader. But landscape in literature is both a reflection and an invention. Lloyd Jones and Kate De Goldi will discuss exploring the landscapes of their favourite books from childhood, and consider how they write 'place' into story.

This session was recorded at the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival,

Three contemporary New Zealand novelists talk writing. Sue Orr, Kirsten McDougall and Rebecca K Reilly discuss their inspiration, processes and generational insights. They also discuss the place of women - as authors and protagonists - in modern literature.

This session took place during the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival.