The 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.

Sharon Murdoch - Drawing Attention

Sharon Murdoch started cartooning in her 50s and in a few short years became the first woman to regularly draw political cartoons for a daily newspaper in New Zealand. 

At the 2021 Marlborough Book Festival, Sharon discusses with Nikki MacDonald her life, her award-winning work and her drive to draw attention to social justice - and the joy of drawing cats and dogs.

John McCrystal - Singing the Trail

John McCrystal tells the story of New Zealand through maps and the explorers who made them.

From early Maori and European voyagers, to settlers, surveyors and soldiers, John’s book, 'Singing the Trail', unearths little-known and fascinating histories of this country contained in beautiful and extraordinary maps.

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