On Friday 15th March we hosted a New Zealand Book Month event with Kate De Goldi, Emily Perkins, and Lloyd Jones, who each talked about two NZ books which had recently impressed them. The works discussed were as follows, with links to the title in our online shop:
Kate De Goldi spoke on The Invisible Rider by Kirsten McDougall and Zone of the Marvellous by Martin Edmond.
Emily Perkins spoke on Certain Words Drawn by John Reynolds and Marti Friedlander by Leonard Bell.
Lloyd Jones spoke on The Silence Beyond by Michael King and Jumping Ship by Glenn Colquhoun.
The authors had a table set at the back of the store so that everyone could see and hear them. Everyone spoke candidly about some of their favourite NZ titles – what they loved about them, why they read them in the first place, why they were special – and the crowd was utterly fixated. What a crowd it was! The early birds got seats and luckily the speakers were so engaging no one minded standing. Afterwards the authors kindly stuck around to allow the opportunity to have things signed; ‘probably just our own books though’ joked De Goldi. We’re especially glad that we had a number of guests who hadn’t been in before. Amongst the audience were several other NZ authors that any of us would have been delighted to hear speak, including Dame Fiona Kidman and Elizabeth Knox.
Photos attached show the speakers in action, and the sheer size of the crowd that we managed to fit into such a small space (Photography © Matt Bialostocki). Big thanks to NZ Book Month and Booksellers NZ for helping us organise the event – hopefully we can do something like this again soon!
The author’s selected book on display.
A welcome crowd eagerly awaiting the panel.
Kate De Goldi kicks it off talking about The Invisible Rider by Kirsten McDougall and Zone of the Marvellous by Martin Edwards.
Emily Perkins talked to us about Certain Words Drawn by John Reynolds and Marti Friedlander by Leonard Bell.
Listening intently…
The authors wrapping things up.
Readers listening.
All books currently available both in store and in our online shop.
