The Marlborough Book Festival

An Hour With Lloyd Jones

Lloyd Jones is one of New Zealand’s most significant and successful contemporary authors, whose works include The Book of Fame, based on the All Blacks’ 1905 international tour, and Mr Pip, set amid the civil war on Bougainville Island in the early 1990s, which won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. 

Lloyd talks with friend and fellow writer Kate De Goldi about his life and work, including the allegory The Cage, and his latest novel, The Fish.

Colleen Shipley - Wrens Under the Radar

Wrens Under the Radar by Marlborough librarian Colleen Shipley is inspired by the true story of eight women posted to a top-secret mission in Blenheim from November 1942 to May 1944. 

The story of loss, healing and friendship provides a vivid snapshot of life in New Zealand during World War II. Colleen discusses her inspiration, fascinating research discoveries and road to publication.

Colleen Shipley speaks with Barbara DeLeo during the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival.

Kirsten McDougall & Dave Lowe - Writing Climate Change

Kirsten McDougall is the author of an eco-thriller novel set in a climate-changed future, Dave Lowe is a scientist who has been raising the alarm about atmospheric changes for decades.

Both authors say their work was borne of anger and frustration at the lack of action to mitigate a looming disaster.

This conversation with Bev Doole was recorded during the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival.

Paula Morris - Shining Land: Looking for Robin Hyde

Award-winning writer Paula Morris delivers a lecture on the fascinating, chaotic and ground-breaking life of the New Zealand journalist, poet, fiction writer and war correspondent Iris Wilkinson, aka Robin Hyde.

Paula and distinguished photographer Haru Sameshima went off the beaten track to produce 'Shining Land: Looking for Robin Hyde', a "picture book" made for grown-ups which explores Robin Hyde by visiting three locations of her life.

Shining Land is the second in the kōrero series of picture books edited by Lloyd Jones, in which leading New Zealand writers and artists collaborate to 'stretch' the bounds of what a book can do.

Ruth Shaw - The Power of Books

Two women who love books talk books at a book festival.

Ruth Shaw, much-loved Manapōuri writer who has found happiness running three tiny bookshops in her garden, and Tessa Nicholson, a much-loved Marlborough writer and festival chair who has been known to read a book a day, come together to discuss Ruth's wonderful book of stories about her extraordinary life and quirky bookshops, The Bookseller at the End of the World.

This conversation was recorded at the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival.

Barbara DeLeo - Sidestepping the Gatekeepers

There’s never been a better time to self-publish, says Barbara DeLeo.

Her workshop at the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival canvasses every step of the process, from writing and editing, formatting and publishing, to getting your book into e-readers, audio and libraries, and perhaps on the shelves of little bookshops on the opposite side of the world.

Barbara also talks about marketing, getting paid royalties for your work and the potential pitfalls of being your own gatekeeper.

Abbas Nazari - After the Tampa

We were thrilled to have Abbas Nazari as our guest for the opening event of the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival. 

Abbas was seven years old when his family fled the Taliban in Afghanistan, hoping to find a new home in Australia. The journey that followed, including a sinking fishing boat, heroic rescue by the Tampa container ship, and doors closed by the Australian Government, caught the world’s attention. 

More than 20 years after the Nazari family was resettled in New Zealand, Abbas is a prominent advocate for refugees, was a semi-finalist for the 2022 Young New Zealander of the Year, and author of the best-selling memoir 'After the Tampa'.

Abbas was speaking with Paula Morris.

Nicolas Dillon - Drawn to the Wild

Nicolas Dillon discusses his very personal and heartfelt tribute to the birds of New Zealand, 'Drawn to the Wild'.

This session looks back over the author’s life in Marlborough and delves into the birds he has painted and also the more intangible aspects of nature which fascinate him.

Nicolas was speaking to Mike White at the 2021 Marlborough Book Festival.

Christine Leunens - From Academia to the Academies

From Parisian model to bestselling author, Christine Leunens talks about her extraordinary life and work.

What was it like to have her novel 'Caging Skies' so successfully adapted into the Academy Award-winning 'Jojo Rabbit'? Plus, we get a sneak peek into her next novel.

Christine was talking to Nikki MacDonald at the 2021 Marlborough Book Festival.

John McCrystal - Shipwreck Tales

John McCrystal gives us insight into his new book, 'Worse Things Happen at Sea: Tales of nautical mishap, misery and mystery from New Zealand and around the world'.

Covering the tragic, the heroic, and the inexplicable, John also discusses one of our greatest maritime mysteries, the sinking of the Mikhail Lermontov in the Marlborough Sounds.

John was speaking to Mike White at the 2021 Marlborough Book Festival.