Scribblers telling tales by Natalia Noone-Jones

SCRIBBLERS TELLING TALES

NATALIA NOONE-JONES finds food for thought at the Auckland Writers’ Festival.

Auckland’s festival spans six days sparking joy and interest in kiwis with a passion for literature. Aotea Centre is busy with people milling around, purchasing tickets, browsing books, and waiting to get their new tomes signed. The writers’ festival attracts many kiwis wanting to learn more about how writers write. It brings authors from around New Zealand and the world. We can learn about writing from a new perspective, seeing it from the point of view of the writer, and it excites us. The writers’ festival provides a variety of events to cater for people with interests in all different genres and styles of writing. Whether you are a student, professional writer wanting inspiration or someone just looking for a story, the writers’ festival has something. The festival is an overall magical experience, especially when it’s dark and cool, and the lights around Aotea Square are twinkling around you. It is a time to meet up with friends and family and enjoy going along to events, having a meal out and just getting out of the house. People can eat at restaurants or the real fruit ice cream stall and explore the shops while they are in the city. The writers’ festival is a good thing for nearby businesses too, with many people brought to the area, close-by shops have more customers. There could be more food trucks with wafting smells and sparkly displays, and quick, delicious foods to keep people going throughout the day, especially those participating in multiple events. On a chill Autumn evening, my friend Minka and I bussed into the city to enjoy what the writers’ festival had to offer. I was absorbed into a discussion on pathologies and crime writing with Steve Braunias and Judy Melinek. Steve Braunias, a friendly local journalist, and someone I look up to as a writer, tells me about his experience in this year’s festival. Q – Have you been a part of a writers’ festival before, and would you do it again? A – Yes, as the author of 10 books I have been asked to speak at writers’ festivals throughout New Zealand, and in Australia and England, for many years. In Melbourne, for instance, I was on a panel of travel writers from around the world, such as an English author who wrote a book about travelling across desert lands in Russia on horseback. At that same festival, I chaired a session where I interviewed a woman who had written about sailing around the world in a very small boat – she had to stay awake at night-times to keep alert for giant trading ships, which could easily have crushed her boat and killed her. In London, I was asked to perform in a play written by a well-known author and appeared alongside poets and novelists in a session devoted to New Zealand writing. Writer friends of mine have appeared at festivals in Argentina, the US, Hong Kong, Germany and Spain, among other places. Festivals have become a regular and important part of literature in the past 20 years. I was scheduled to appear at festivals in Napier, New Plymouth, Nelson, and Tauranga, in the second half of 2021. Q – Do you go along to other events? A- Yes, the festivals are usually held over 2-3 days, and so there’s plenty of time and opportunity to sit in on events featuring other writers. Many writers work by themselves. Writing is a solitary occupation. A festival provides a welcome opportunity for writers to meet other writers socially, and to listen to them talk about their work onstage. Close and important friendships have been formed at writers’ festivals, and it’s also common that writers will make valuable contacts with publishers and editors. Over the years I’ve enjoyed meeting authors who have travelled to New Zealand for writers’ festivals such as Andrew O’Hagan, an English author who is considered one of the best essayists in the world, and Helen Macdonald, whose book H Is For Hawk has been a best-seller ever since it was published. I chaired Helen at a writers’ festival in Christchurch, and interviewed Andrew for several hours at a writer’s festival in Wellington.

Q – What is your favourite part of participating in the 2021 writers’ festival? A- I appeared alongside forensic pathologist Judy Malinek, an American who moved to New Zealand to get away from the COVID pandemic, and it was fascinating hearing her talk about her work. My latest book is a collection of true-crime stories, and many of those stories are about homicides, which is something that Judy is often called on to investigate. While I was onstage with Judy, I asked her several questions about whether it’s possible to commit a murder and make it look like suicide by hanging. I asked her these questions because of a case the police are investigating now. Q – What would you say to someone considering going along and would you recommend it? A – Writer’s festivals are usually very packed and sometimes sold-out, like the session I appeared in with Judy, at the Auckland Writers Festival, so that’s an indication that they are popular events and attractive for people who read books and want to hear from the authors of those books. When a writer appears onstage, and talks about their book, it’s an excellent opportunity for the audience to see how the mind of a writer works, and how it is they came to write their books and what kinds of things influenced their writing. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes to read and wants to know more about their favourite authors. The writers’ festival is an amazing opportunity and experience for everyone. New Zealand is lucky to be able to put on festivals like these with COVID-19 raging through the rest of the world. The festival provides a distraction, something to look forward to and a way to expand your knowledge. I would recommend the festival to others to go to, even if you aren’t into writing or reading, there are many different interesting topics that writers talk about that may interest you such as pathologies, politics and culture.