Page 14 - Auckland Writers Festival

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GALLIpOLI AnD OTHER STORIES: pETER FITzSIMOnS
FRIDAY MAY 15 – 1.00-2.00pM ASB THEATRE, AOTEA CEnTRE
Former Wallaby lock, newspaper columnist, broadcaster and author Peter FitzSimons joins us from Sydney to talk about his latest book Gallipoli, alongside other work including his biographies of the Second World
War Two spook Nancy Wake and the authority-averse Ned Kelly. He will also expound on his “little theories of life”. The frisky FitzSimons is joined by Graeme Hill. Supported by Platinum Patrons Betsy & Michael Benjamin.
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STATIOn ELEVEn: EMILY ST. JOHn MAnDEL
FRIDAY MAY 15 – 1.00-2.00pM LOWER nzI ROOM, AOTEA CEnTRE
Canadian Emily St. John Mandel’s fourth novel Station Eleven was a finalist for the 2014 National Book Awards. In it, the world is decimated by influenza and a Shakespearean troupe with the motto “Survival is
insufficient” hits the road to cheer up unlucky survivors. Exploring notions of art and kinship and the cyclical nature of life, as well as yearning, the apocalyptic work confirms Mandel’s status as a star ascendant. She speaks with Jolisa Gracewood.
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FREE EVEnT
FOuR FOR FIFTY READInGS SESSIOn
ASIAn HISTORIES
FRIDAY MAY 15 – 1.00-1.50pM LIMELIGHT ROOM, AOTEA CEnTRE
Indian-Canadian novelist Jaspreet Singh, Singaporean poet Edwin Thumboo, Vietnamese-Canadian novelist Kim Thúy and NZ poet Chris Tse uncover Asian histories in ten minute readings, introduced by Christine O’Brien.
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SpECIAL EVEnT DALLOWAY
FRIDAY MAY 15 – 2.00-3.25pM WInTERGARDEn, CIVIC THEATRE
Austen’s Women’s Rebecca Vaughan returns with her latest hit: a stage adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, that Modernist
mapping of interior states in the aftermath of World War I. This five-star Edinburgh 2014 success has been hailed as accomplished and incredibly moving. Adapted and directed by Elton Townend Jones. A Dyad Production. One of four performances.
Earlybird $30; Standard $35; Patrons $28; Students $17.50.
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BuY ME THE SkY: XInRAn
FRIDAY MAY 15 – 2.30-3.30pM ASB THEATRE, AOTEA CEnTRE
Famed Chinese writer Xinran,
author of The Good Women of China, introduces her latest book Buy Me The Sky, an investigation of the impact of China’s one-child policy on those born after 1970. With journalistic nous and novelistic flair, she scrutinises how generations of “one and onlies”, burdened with expectation but reared with scant sense of responsibility, embody the hopes and fears of a nation in flux. In conversation
with Stephanie Johnson. Supported
by Penguin Random House and
Asia New Zealand Foundation.
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