Crimewriting Conversation Coming To Bay Of Islands
Kerikeri is hosting an evening of conversations with crime writers on Wednesday May 7 -- the first event of its kind in Northland's top half.
Celebrating the annual Ngaio Marsh Awards for the best in Kiwi crime writing, this year's 'Villainy by the Vines' author panel features true crime writer Angus Gillies, who wrote the books of the TV series ' Far North.' Alongside Gillies is bestselling detective fiction author Catherine Lea, novelist and poet KV (Kim) Martins, and the event is chaired by Michael Botur, award-winning author of new Northland crime novel Glass Barbie.
As part of 30 'Mystery in the Library' events taking place nationwide, the Northland writers will spend 90 minutes discussing the art and craft of storytelling, creating criminal characters, what drew each of them to crime and mystery writing, with plenty of riveting tales about crooks, cops, lawyers and literature.
The free event takes place Wednesday May 7 at the Procter Library in Kerikeri at 6pm. RSVPs on the Far North Libraries website are essential.
The authors will all have their books for sale and are available to give creative writing advice to aspiring authors.
Angus Gillies is author of the 'Ruatoria Killings' series of non-fiction investigations. He has worked as a journalist and producer at TV3 for 20 years, and has written biographies of sports stars Matthew Ridge, Adam Parore, Justin Marshall, and entertainer John Rowles. Most recently, Angus co-wrote FAR NORTH, an extraordinary true crime tale also made into a six-part TV series starring Robyn Malcolm and Temuera Morrison.
Catherine Lea is a Kerikeri author of the DI Nyree Bradshaw series, among other
series and standalone thrillers. Her latest Nyree Bradshaw mystery is BETTER LEFT DEAD.
KV (Kim) Martins is a prolific storyteller of Gothic, historical, and crime fiction. Originally from Sydney, she now lives in the Far North. KV Martins offers readers a unique and thrilling perspective on stories that simmer with suspense and the allure of an Agatha Christie or a detective noir tale. Her latest crime novel is EVERYTHING TO HIDE, set in 1930s Sydney
Michael Botur is a poet and author whose short stories have won awards in New Zealand, Australia and the US. Takahe magazine described him as "a writer considered one of the most original story writers of his generation in New Zealand". His story "The Flemish Bond" was part of the acclaimed DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER 2 anthology of trans-Tasman crime writers. Michael's new crime novel is GLASS BARBIE, a drug-fuelled black comedy buddy cop road trip from Whangarei to Kaitaia to the Bay to try solve a complicated kidnapping.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
3 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Adventures to unfold on big screen
Some of the best adventure films from across the globe will be shown in Queenstown next week. The annual NZ Mountain Film Festival, now in its 23rd year, this year received a record 294 entries — the final lineup features 64 award-winning and finalist films, including 18 by Kiwi film-makers. Being held at the Queenstown Memorial Centre next Thursday and Friday, the films will also be available to watch online from July 1 to 31. The Thursday session here, from 7pm, starts with a 'social session' before a conversation with Beth Rodden, regarded as one of the greatest rock climbers of all time, who's recently published a memoir, A Light Through the Cracks, from 7.30pm. Four films will then be shown including Trango, directed by Leo Hoorn (US), the grand prize winner this year. The film follows a team of ski mountaineers, including previous NZ Mountain Film Fest guest speaker Christina Lustenberg, of the US, who skied the first descent of the Great Trango Glacier in Pakistan, after a two-year attempt. Navigating risk, grappling with grief and facing physical danger, the team pushes the limits of human experiences, facing the unimaginable together. Other films on Thursday night are Body of a Line (Henna Taylor, US), solo award winner Far Enough (Julien Carot, France), and Alone Across Gola (Jude Kriwald, UK), the best film on adventurous sports and lifestyle. Another seven films will screen during Friday's 'Pure NZ' session, between 3pm and 6pm. They include the community spirit award-winner, Spirit of the West (Pedro Pimentel), which is set against New Zealand's West Coast and captures the spirit of the Old Ghost Ultra, All In or Nothing, directed by Gordon Duff, which won the best documentary award, and follows young athlete Matthew Fairbrother who's up against 120 riders with full support crews as he attempts to win the overall title at the NZ MTB Rally, on his own, and Waiatoto (Josh Morgan and Jasper Gibson), winner of the Hiddleston/MacQueen Award for best NZ-made film. It tells the story of a traverse across the Southern Alps through packraft, skis and tramping. Starting at the Matukituki, Gibson, Nick Pascoe and Charlie Murray travelled via Tititea, the Volta Glacier and the Waiatoto to the Tasman Sea. "We didn't set out to make a film," Pascoe says, "the focus was on a creative adventure through an incredible corner of the country, simply for the sake of it." Rounding out this year's festival is Friday night's 'Snow Show', from 7pm, which includes best snow sports film Painting the Mountains (Pierre Cadot, France), set in El Chalten, a remote Patagonian village beneath Fitz Roy, where three French skiers arrive to pioneer new lines. Tickets to Thursday's session cost $30 ($5 youth discount) and $25 for each of Friday's sessions, with youth discounts. For more info, or to buy tickets, see
Otago Daily Times
3 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Soundscapes of the Southern Lakes
Celebrated Kiwi pianist Michael Houstoun. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Some of New Zealand's most acclaimed chamber musicians are heading our way in October, to perform during the fifth At the World's Edge (AWE) Festival. Artistic director Benjamin Baker's brought together acclaimed pianist Michael Houstoun, cellist James Bush and composer in residence John Psathas, who'll be joined by a cast of international artists. This year's festival draws on the natural world as a source of creative inspiration — between October 4 and 12 there'll be seven curated performances across the district and a series of free events to highlight the many ways composers engage with nature. In Queenstown, AWE will be based at Te Atamira. "As a festival rooted in the landscapes of the Southern Lakes, we're constantly inspired by our surroundings," festival director Justine Cormack says. "It's a privilege to celebrate five years of extraordinary performances with artists and audiences who share our belief that music, like nature, can shift our perspective and stir something deeply personal." That theme's also guiding the AWE+ series of free public performances, workshops and talks, which include Queenstown-based architect Fred van Brandenburg, who'll share insights into biomimicry and design, and Olympic freeskier Jossi Wells on the parallels between performance, creativity and the alpine environment, while there'll also be a keyboard-focused programme with works for piano and harpsichord, and performances from Aussie harpsichordist Erin Helyard and Houstoun. AWE culminates in a tour of schools across the Southern Lakes between October 13 and 17. For more info, or to buy tickets, see
Otago Daily Times
3 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Epic films' special guest
A promotional image for Vincent Ward's Rain of the Children. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Whakatipu residents get a unique opportunity next week to see two iconic films by internationally-acclaimed Kiwi film-maker Vincent Ward — and then engage with him in Q&A sessions. Auckland-based Ward's Rain of the Children screens next Tuesday at Queenstown's Te Atamira at 6.30pm, then Vigil screens at Arrowtown's Dorothy Browns on Wednesday at 5.45pm. He's being brought to Queenstown by Milford Galleries, which next Saturday hosts the launch of his unique photography exhibition, 'Palimpsest', featuring photos of human bodies he's painted. Ward calls Rain of the Children, released in 2008, "sort of my favourite, because it's got such a personal connection to the people in it". It came 30 years after a documentary, In Spring One Plants Alone, about his experience living in the remote Urewera Ranges with an elderly Maori woman, Puhi, who was caring for her adult schizophrenic son, Niki. Rain of the Children sees Ward return to the area to explore who Puhi — played by Rena Owen — was. She'd been chosen, aged 12, by Tuhoe prophet Rua Kenana — played by Temuera Morrison — to marry his son. At 14, with their baby, she escaped from the 1916 police raid on Rua's community, in which he was arrested. She subsequently had another 13 children — when Ward stayed with her, Niki was her last remaining. Radio New Zealand called the movie "one of the most moving films to come out of NZ cinema". Meanwhile, Vigil, released in 1984, was the first film by a New Zealand director to be officially selected 'in competition' at the Cannes Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation. It follows 11-year-old Toss, who navigates grief, isolation and change in a remote, primeval valley — it's said to be partly autobiographical as Ward grew up on a farm in the Wairarapa. He says it's "about an imaginative way of seeing the world — these kids that are a little bit isolated live in their own heads and come up with almost an alternative reality to try and understand what's going on". To celebrate Vigil's 40th anniversary last year, former child actor Fiona Kay, who played the central role — "and was compared by the Los Angeles Times to one of the great silent film stars" — was brought over for a screening at Wellington's Embassy Theatre, and the producer appeared for another. "And then Queenstown gets me," Ward quips.
