We were very sad to hear
of the passing of Island Bay bookseller (and lovely person) Fay Far.
You can read about Fay
here.
The Island Bay community
is proposing an annual “Fay Day” in Fay’s honour, when people are
encouraged to down their devices and pick up a book. This will be on the
anniversary of her death each year so look out for it next 1 July (or don’t
wait until then, buy a book to remember Fay anyway)
The NZ Book Council
AGM is at 6pm on Wednesday 1 August at Meow, followed by an evening of True Stories
Told Live – storytelling from the heart, featuring Sharon
Lam, Gem Wilder, Annaleese Jochems, Hana Pera Aoake, Freya Daly Sadgrove, Curti
Icon and Eamonn Marra as MC. This will be a great evening (and free! and
the AGM won’t take long!) so RSVP now!
The NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are in full swing and it’s great to see a number of Wellington
authors and illustrators short-listed, congratulations to them all.
There are also lots of interesting
posts and competitions on their Facebook page.
The award ceremony is
on Wednesday 8 August at Te Papa, and tickets may still be available here.
The 2nd National Writers Forum, run by the NZ Society of Authors, is being held in Auckland on 21-23
September. Anyone who went to the first one will tell you how amazing it was, and
several WCBA members have signed up already. Have a look at the programme and see if you can
find any cheap fares, it will be another great weekend. (Just for starters: the programme includes an Opening address by Philip Pullman, beamed in by videolink!)
The NWF is aimed solely
at writers: “a 2.5 day
intensive where writers talk, learn and share information about the craft of
writing, the business of writing and the world of words”, and also a
chance to meet other writers from around the country.
Have a look at Best
books I never wrote, a regular column
in the Saturday Dominion Post, compiled on 14 July (you might have to scroll down) by Fleur Beale, and on 7 July by Ruth Paul. Lots of wonderful NZ titles quoted, which is great to see!
We've received a request from a local high school, as follows:
The
learning support department at Wellington East Girls’ College are looking for a
pool of reader/writers to support our learning support students with their NCEA
assessments. These students have learning differences such as dyslexia and
qualify for special assessment conditions. This will be for internal
assessments on an as needed basis. The tasks may involve reading the questions
to them and recording their answers. They would appreciate a calm and
reassuring temperament.
We
would love your support to help these students achieve their full potential. As
you will be working in a school environment police vetting will be required.
(Reimbursement of expenses or modest pay is available)
If you are interested, please email Deborah Marshall: Deborah.Marshall@wegc.school.nz
And lastly, a plug for
The Sapling. I’m sure you all know about this wonderful website by now, and the
fantastic job it is doing in supporting NZ children’s literature, but the editors would appreciate your support too in spreading
the word and liking and sharing articles.
