On Friday August 16th, as part of the New Zealand Post Book Awards Festival, we hosted four guests for a lunchtime event: Emily Perkins, Gigi Fenster and Lawrence Patchett, in conversation with Fergus Barrowman.
Emily Perkins, author of The Forrests, and Gigi Fenster, author of The Intentions Book, are both fiction finalists in this year’s NZ Post Book Awards, while Lawrence Patchett has been awarded the NZSA Hubert Church Best First Book Award for his debut collection of short stories I Got His Blood on Me. Fergus Barrowman of Victoria University Press chaired a conversation about writing between the three authors, interspersed with readings from their work.
As Friday the 16th of August was also New Zealand Poetry Day and each of the authors also selected one poem to read, as follows:
Gigi Fenster: Children are the Orgasm of the World by Hera Lindsay Bird, from Minarets, Issue 3, Summer
Lawrence Patchett: Honda Waka by Robert Sullivan, from Star Waka
Emily Perkins: Coming Round the Mountain: Waka mo te haerenga by Murray Edmond, from Three Travels.
Thank you to everyone who made it out to listen – hearing authors in conversation is always a treat and often shares insights into the craft of writing. A big thank you to the New Zealand Post Books Awards Festival and the New Zealand Society of Authors.
Check out a few photos from the day below – all images © Matt Bialostocki // Unity Books
Left to Right: Fergus Barrowman, Gigi Fenster, Lawrence Patchett, Emily Perkins.
Fergus came prepared with questions.
Emily had a few stories to tell about her nominated novel The Forrests.
Big questions being pondered…
You can purchase all three books in store and from our online shop HERE.
