Page 64 - Auckland Writers Festival

CATHERInE ROBERTSOn nEW zEALAnD
Catherine Robertson has just published her fourth novel, The Hiding Places (2015), following three New Zealand #1 bestsellers. She writes monthly contemporary fiction reviews for the New Zealand Listener, appears regularly on Radio New Zealand’s The Panel and chairs the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors.
VICTOR RODGER nEW zEALAnD
Victor Rodger is an award-winning playwright of Samoan and Scottish descent who has been crafting drama since the 1995 play Sons. Most recently Black Faggot was a sell-out at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe, and Girl on a Corner premiered at the 2015 Auckland Fringe.
DAMOn SALESA nEW zEALAnD
Associate Professor of Pacific Studies at The University of Auckland, Damon Salesa was the first person of Pacific Island descent to be a Rhodes Scholar. He is author of the Ernest Scott prize- winning Racial Crossings (2012) and was a consultant for the Auckland Museum’s Entangled Islands exhibition. damonsalesa.wordpress.com @DamonSalesa
JIM SALInGER nEW zEALAnD
Climate change scientist Dr Jim Salinger has been involved for 35 years in climate change research and analysis. He has won awards for his work, including the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize as a contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He is editor of Living in a Warmer World (2013).
FIOnA SAMuEL nEW zEALAnD
Fiona Samuel is an award-winning writer, director and actor whose work for screen and stage includes Piece of My Heart, The Marching Girls, Lashings Of Whipped Cream, Consent – The Louise Nicholas Story and Bliss. Samuel originated and performed in The World’s Wife at the NZIAF in 2002. fionasamuel.com
ELSpETH SAnDYS nEW zEALAnD
The author of eight novels, including Orange Prize finalist River Lines (1995), and two collections of short stories, Elspeth Sandys has written extensively for the BBC and Radio NZ. In 2014 she published her memoir What Lies Beneath about the search for her birth parents.
AnT SAnG nEW zEALAnD
Ant Sang is a designer and cartoonist and the author of classic local graphic series The Dharma Punks (2014) and Shaolin Burning (2011), which spent ten weeks on the Booksellers’ Top Ten List. He has also won awards
for his work as a designer on the hit animated television series bro’ Town. antsang.co.nz
IAIn SHARp nEW zEALAnD
Poet and librarian Iain Sharp emigrated from Glasgow when he was eight and works as a manuscripts librarian at the Auckland Central Public Library. He has published four volumes of poetry and books on Charles Heaphy and the treasures of Auckland’s libraries.
DEBORAH SHEpARD nEW zEALAnD
Deborah Shepard is a biographer, life writing mentor and teacher with a PhD in Film Studies. Her books have been critically acclaimed for documenting the contribution of women to the arts in New Zealand. Her latest work is Giving Yourself to Life: A Journal of Pain, Hope and Renewal (2015). thejournal.co.nz
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