Sunday, April 30, 2017

Standing Room Only


Standing Room Only

Standing Room Only for 04/30/2017

Standing Room Only is literally radio with pictures... and arts, theatre, film, comedy, books, dance, entertainment and music – all the things, in other words, that make life worth living.
Full programme details are available on the Standing Room Only webpage
 

New Zealand Film Milestones

Which New Zealand films are the important ones - the ones that film academics call "canon", meaning the undoubted milestones in our comparatively brief history of internationally accliamed films? Massey University's Dr Brian McDonnell is about to launch a series of books, each one devoted to the most important New Zealand films. And he's kicked it off with a film that many critics agree may very well be the greatest - Brad McGann's In My Father's Den.
Apr 30, 2017 02:40 pm

A new crime thriller from Tina Clough

A young woman is enslaved by a man she must call Master. Her fate lies with an army vet, Hunter, once he comes across her - lying more than half dead - in the Northland bush. She's known only deprivation for years, and never feels truly safe even after her escape. Can Hunter protect her from those who seek her out? This is Tina Clough's scenario in her latest novel, The Chinese Proverb. The Swedish born-New Zealand writer explains to Lynn Freeman where the idea for the novel came from?
Apr 30, 2017 02:25 pm

For Pete's Sake - the political songs of Peter Conway

Peter Conway was the Secretary of the CTU in tandem with then President Helen Kelly. He tragically took his own life in 2015 after a long struggle with depression. Pete was a great muso and outside of work he had his union ensemble Not The Day Job. The album will be released, appropriately, on May 1st - International Workers' Day, at PSA House in Wellington. Simon Morris talks to Ross Teppett from the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, and musician David Long, producer of the album about how it all came about and the future of political songwriting. The album will be available on Spotify and iTunes on Monday and you can find more information on their facebook page.
Apr 30, 2017 01:50 pm

Big Names and Big Personalities at the Doc Edge Festival

Once again the Documentary Edge International Film Festival will challenge and inspire audiences with 49 feature length films and 20 short films, representing the very finest of international and New Zealand-made documentaries. Simon Morris talks to Dan Shanan, the executive director of the Documentary New Zealand Trust. Doc Edge is heading to Wellington 10 May - 21 May, and Auckland, 24 May - 5 June and you can find out more on their website.
Apr 30, 2017 01:40 pm

Screen Gems with Irene Gardiner

To mark the release of the feature documentary by acclaimed filmaker Roger Donaldson on New Zealand motor-racing legend Bruce McLaren, Irene Gardiner has picked a real petrolhead edition of Screen Gems for Simon Morris.
Apr 30, 2017 12:42 pm

A 'Fiercely independent' newcomer in Children's Publishing

After many years working in Children's publishing, Christine Dale and Jenny Nagle had started to notice a decline in the numbers of independent New Zealand publishers catering for children and young people. After a chance conversation, they resolved to do something about it and have this week launched OneTree House publishers. They tell Simon Morris all about it.
Apr 30, 2017 12:35 pm

The A - Z of Producing

What does it take to get your film in front of an audience? We're very used to hearing about the skills of actors and directors but what about that of the producers? A new course developed by the New Zealand Film Commission, in conjunction with the Australian Film Television and Radio School is teaching a group of New Zealand producers what they need to know to produce a feature film, and enable them to build a production slate ready to take to market. Simon Morris talks to Dave Gibson, Chief Executive of the NZ Film Commission and the course facilitator, accomplished Australian producer, Sue Maslin.
Apr 30, 2017 12:15 pm


 

Older stories

The Art of Puppets and Puppeteering
Quintessential Lauris Edmond
Light, Sound and Sculpture at the LUX Te Ao Marama PRECINCT
The Historic Pumphouse Theatre Celebrates its 40th Anniversary
Bringing Te Reo Maori to the Stage
Not all audio is available due to copyright restrictions

UK Books Sold Record Numbers Of Books Last Year

 

Sales of children’s books rose 16% to £365m, with the increase due mainly to the purchase of printed works. Readers also flocked to fitness and self-help books, sending non-fiction sales up 9%. Revenues from fiction fell 7%, the PA’s annual report said.

Saturday, April 29, 2017

All Blacks story shortlisted for prestigious Cross Book Awards in the UK



A unique account of the All Blacks story has been shortlisted for the prestigious Cross Book Awards in the UK.

Behind the Silver Fern —The Players Speak is the work of prominent sports writer Lynn McConnell and SKY rugby commentator Tony Johnson, and tells the history of the iconic team through the recollections of over 150 notable players, dating back to the late 1800s.

The book is a finalist in the rugby section of the Cross Awards, where it is up against biographies of former Lions forwards Donal Lenihan and Paul O’Connell, and is a contender for the overall award which also features the life stories of Formula One star Damon Hill, footballers Joey Barton and Ian Wright, and cricketer Jonathan Trott.
 

 
“That’s pretty illustrious company”, says Tony Johnson, “we’re happy just to be featured amongst those names.”

“We got some good reviews in the British press when it was released last year, which can’t have hurt.”

The book was praised not only for the forthright contributions of the modern day All Blacks, but as noted in The Rugby Paper, owes much to the “prolific literary efforts of the pioneer All Blacks, who were dab hands at writing books, newspaper columns and letters”.

“The response of the players we approached was exceptional,” says Johnson, and we were also fortunate to be able to draw on some fantastic material in Taonga, the New Zealand Sound Archive, which included interviews and talks by players dating back to the great 1905 Originals. I think it was that very old material that gave us an extra dimension compared to similar publications in the UK and Ireland.”

The book also revealed new versions of some of the more controversial episodes from the 1972-73 tour, including the events leading up to the banishment of All Black prop Keith Murdoch, and a letter received by first-five Bob Burgess, while in troubled Belfast.

The letter was signed by prominent members of the IRA, and although there were denials from the IRA when the book was published, Burgess has always been convinced of its authenticity.

Behind the Silver Fern — The Players Speak was commissioned and published in the UK by Polaris Publishing, and published in New Zealand by Mower.

Latest news from The Bookseller


Audiobooks
Publishers are responding to the surge in audiobook downloads by investing more in the sector, hiring new staff, upping the number of titles they publish and exploring audio-first opportunities.
Lis Tribe
Incoming Publishers Association president Lis Tribe, m.d. of Hodder Education, set out her priorities in the role for the coming year at the body's annual general meeting, held in central London yesterday.
US writer Bret Anthony Johnston has won this year's £30,000 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award.
The Borough Press
The Borough Press will open submissions for un-agented literary novels on Monday (1st May), offering one stand-out author a book deal worth £10,000.
BOSH!
HQ is to publish BOSH! The Cookbook by Sheffield school friends Henry Firth and Ian Theasby in a "major" six-figure deal following a "hotly-contested" eight-publisher auction.
Independent bookshops have been praised by authors as “oases of intellectual and physical comfort” as the Independent Bookshop Week Book Award nominees have been released.
  

“Masterful characterisation” and “subtle visual subplots” have won Isobel Evans, a third-year illustration student at the University of Hertfordshire, the Hachette Children’s Group Carmelite Picture Book Prize 2017.
Amazon
Amazon has reported its eighth profitable quarter, with profit up 40%, to $724m (£560.8m) in the first three months of the year.
Citizen Clem
John Bew has been awarded the 2017 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Fiction for his book Citizen Clem: A Biography of Attlee (riverrun/Quercus).
The BBC is to provide "unparalleled coverage" across television, radio and online of this year's Hay Festival, which will feature star names such as US senator Bernie Sanders, actor and writer Stephen Fry and show producer and writer Steven Moffat.
The student shortlistees for the fifth Batsford Prize have been announced today, with 28 undergraduates and postgraduates at UK institutions contesting awards for Applied/Fine Art, Fashion, Illustration and, new for this year, Children’s Illustration.
Green Carnation Prize
Stella Duffy, Garth Greenwell and Kei Miller are among the names to have been shortlisted for the Green Carnation Prize for LGBTQ writing.

Off the Shelf


    
By Kerry Fiallo    |   Friday, April 28, 2017
Like death and taxes, crime is unfortunately a global constant. Lucky for us, many brilliant authors have written engrossing, riveting, and often moving nonfiction books about criminal cases throughout history. From Europe to Asia and beyond, discover some of the most engrossing true-crime books from around the world. READ MORE

That's not the monster we ordered


That’s Not the Monster We Ordered
Richard Fairgray and Terry Jones

Acclaimed comic writers Richard Fairgray and Terry Jones have once
again created a picture book that’s bursting with wacky humour and
clever illustrations. That’s Not the Monster We Ordered will have kids
clamouring to get their own monsters, too!

The Turner family has just got a monster, and the whole neighbourhood is in awe of his
superhero stature, daredevil skill and all-round usefulness. It can roar louder than a lion,
carry the whole class on its back and eat grass so that no-one needs to mow.
Everyone wants their own monster.
But sometimes the monster you order isn’t necessarily the monster you get . . .

A playful picture book with a twist on family pets that children will love.

Richard Fairgray is a NZ writer and illustrator who works on comics, picture books and screenplays.
He has been publishing work since he was seven years old, and has more than 200 titles to his name.
A former teacher and stand-up comedian, and a self-confessed workaholic, Richard’s deep-seated fear that he may be a fictional character only serves to drive him harder. He insists that if he doesn’t get enough done he’ll have to come back as a ghost to finish off.

Welsh-born Terry Jones has written magazine articles, text books, two YA novels and numerous comics as well a slew of unfinished sci-fi and thriller manuscripts. Since retiring early from teaching to write full time, he has produced everything from children’s books to screenplays, plus at least one graphic novel a year.
Terry immerses himself in digital media and is never more alive than when critiquing Silver Age Superboy stories or linking Twilight Zone episodes to sure signs of a crumbling society.

RRP:$19.99
Picture Puffin

An E-Book That Forces You To Edit It To Read It

Unsettling: An E-Book That Forces You To Edit It To Read It

One hundred separate versions have been published online by Editions at Play, a digital publisher that specialises in “books that cannot be printed”. You can read any of the 100 editions for free – but if you’re lucky enough to own one, prepare yourself for some creative destruction: each version can only be passed on to a new owner after it has been modified. Owners must add one word and remove two from each of the story’s 21 pages and are stopped from moving forward through the book until they’ve made the required interventions.
 

Publishers Lunch


 

Today's Meal


At Amazon Publishing, Katie Finch has been named director of strategic programs.

Tilo Eckardt will return to Random House Germany to take charge of Heyne's hardcover and paperback fiction list, reporting to Ulrich Genzler. He has spent the last four year as an agent with Mohrbooks, and was previously editor-in-chief of Heyne's hardcover imprints.

At Harper Collins, Jennifer Murphy has been promoted to marketing coordinator.

Sky Pony Press has promoted
Alison Weiss to editor-in-chief.

At Chronicle, Jaime Wong has been promoted to marketing manager, children's.

Author of
Falling Angel William Hjortsberg, 76, died on April 22. He was the author of eight novels and a number of screenplays, including Ridley Scott's Legend.

Picks
The May
Pennie's Pick at Costco is Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly.

Awards

The Edgar Awards were presented across multiple categories Thursday night, including: Before the Fall, by Noah Hawley (Novel); Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry (First Novel); Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin (Critical/Biographical); and The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale (Fact Crime).

David Levithan is the recipient of the Chicago Tribune's 2017 Young Adult Literary Prize. He'll be honored at the 2017 Printers Row Lit Fest on June 10 in downtown Chicago.


In the UK, Bret Anthony Johnston won the £30,000 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award for his story Half of What Atlee Rouse Knows About Horses.

Initiatives

Penguin Random House's #ProjectReadathon Million Minutes campaign surpassed its goal and the publisher will donate 300,000 books to Save the Children.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Auckland Writers Festival - Love New Zealand Writers



                       
AUCKLAND WRITERS FESTIVAL
16 - 21 May 2017

LOVE NEW ZEALAND WRITERS! 

Two events featuring local writers have proven so popular there will be additional sessions!  Big thanks to David Galler and Peter Simpson for stepping up to meet demand.
 

We are thrilled to present New Zealand’s premier book honours – The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards - winners’ ceremony as the first public event at the Festival.  Local writers - such as Clare Dunleavy, Jenny Pattrick and Nick Bollinger - feature aplenty in General Festival Events.  That this Festival is the largest showcase of local writers in the world is something we are immensely proud of.

New Zealand and international guests take part in a huge range of FREE events across the Festival. From the inaugural Walk on High, speakers’ podiums and readings to salon-style soirees in the glittering Heartland Festival Room, you can catch Apirana Taylor, Chris Parker, Tom Sainsbury, Courtney Sina Meredith, Paul CleaveAshleigh YoungPaul Beatty, Jay Rayner, Susan Faludi, and many others for nix.

 
LOVE NEW ZEALAND WRITERS? BOOK NOW!
Check out the full programme online
View the programme ebook