Sunday, May 13, 2012

Saturday afternoon highlights for The Bookman at AWRF

The Incredible Book Artist Oliver Jeffers

What a talent this young man is.
In a wonderful session, ably accompanied by NZ comic strip artist Dylan Horrocks, Oliver Jeffers talked and drew his life in a superb presentation which totally delighted the large audience comprising equal numbers of young children and adults.
Jeffers and Horrocks in a duo drawing presentation clearly enjoyed themselves while at the same time hugely entertaining all fortunate enough to be present.
Near the end one youngster called out "make a paper dart", Jeffers duly obliged and soon a paper dart soon soared out into the auditorium.
Bloody marvellous.
Afterwards I bought a copy of his 2006 title The Incredible Book Easting Boy (Harper Collins) from the Festival bookstore.

More at the Kiss My Arts blog.



An hour with Anthony McCarten

This was a huge contrast to the previous session being a rather serious consideration of London-based NZ writer Anthony McCarten's two latest novels, both published earlier this year, Brilliance, and In the Absence of Heroes.
McCarten is a serious, thoughtful and articulate fellow who displays occasional flashes of great humour, and he led us first through the history of the writing of Brilliance, 15 years in the making and featuring Thomas Edison and J.P.Morgan, before moving on to his contemporary novel with looks at a dysfunctional family struggling to cope in the cyber age.

High Tea:The Generosity of Food
This session started at the Langham Hotel with high tea treats before Listener food columnist Lauraine Jacobs led her fellow accomplished food writers, and authors - Charlotte Wood, Fleur Sullivan and Natalie Oldfield - in an interesting and passionate discussion where each spoke of the love and joy of cooking, particularly in family situations.
Asked by a member of the audience to name their favourite ingredient the quartet answered butter, lentils, chicken and lemons. And whom would they most like to have at their home for dinner? Nora Ephron, Amy Bloom, Jamie Oliver and Will & Kate.
All too soon it was over and I hurried back to the Aotea Centre  for my next session.

An Hour with Stella Rimington


Another event where the upstairs seating had to be made available because of the size of the crowd. It seems former head of MI5 and now widely-admired spy thriller author Dame Stella Rimington (photo left by Gil Hanly is a huge drawcard wherever she appears.
Broadcaster Sean Plunket was an outstanding chair of what proved to be a riveting session. Subjects covered included the requirement of Stella Rimington to get everything she writes vetted by her former colleagues before publication, the Cold War, 9/11, international terrorism, John le Carre and Ian Fleming, George Smiley and James Bond, the Rainbow Warrior sinking, the NZ SIS, plot development and exotic locations, Google Earth, Facebook, checks and balances, Iraq War, Weapons of Mass Destruction, national security,whistle blowing, Liz Carlyle's future - professional and personal,, Judi Dench, The Dames Lunch in London, the remake of theTinker Tailor Soldier Spy movie,security around the London Olympics, the ongoing radicalisation of young Muslim British men, film options, future LIz Carlyle titles
- there will be at least three more.
Suddenly the hour was up. Great stuff.


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