August 13 2008

Geoff Walker is the Publishing Director or Penguin New Zealand and has been involved in the publishing industry for a very long time. I caught up with Geoff when he was on a recent trip to Dunedin.
We talk about the publishing industry in New Zealand, trends and recent changes. We also talk about the effect on the digital age on how books are published and the effects on writers.
Geoff also talks about the process of publishing - how they look at the hundreds of manuscripts submitted each year and what you can do to improve the chances of being picked up.


I enlist the help of guest interviewer Tania Roxborogh to talk with me about my new novel The Ringmaster, by Vanda Symon. The Ringmaster is the second novel in the Sam Shephard detective series and is set in Dunedin.

We talk about the novel, and the importance of characters, particularly in crime fiction. Series enable an author to develop characters, so we talk about this and other advantages in writing a series.

To listen to this show click here.

9 July 2008

Alison Ballance is a natural history writer and award winning wild-life documentary film-maker with Natural History New Zealand. Her 'days at the office' have included being in snow and ice trying to film tigers in Far East Russia, sitting inside gers in Mongolia to wading through leech infested waters in Thailand.

She has written many books, including Dancing with Cranes, in 2005, which tells of some of her film-making adventures, and most recently, the beautiful Southern Alps, which has been named as a finalist in the 2008 Montana New Zealand Book Awards. We'll talk about her recent books, and adventures in a challenging industry.



Janet Frame is New Zealand's most distinguished writer. The recent publication of her novel Towards Another Summer, to critical acclaim, was a decision that had to be made by The Janet Frame Literary Trust. I'll be talking with Pamela Gordon, the Chair of the trust about Janet, and about the pleasures and difficulties in managing the literary legacy of such an important writer.

July marks the celebration of Montana Poetry day, so we will also be talking about Janet Frame the poet and her collection The Goose Bath.

To listen to this show click here.

June 11 2008

Penelope Todd has had a busy time of late. She has recently released Digging for Spain. This book is part travel memoir, part autobiography and about journeys, both physical – relating her experiences on a fellowship to Can Serrat in Spain, and personal – in life and writing. We’ll talk about her experiences, and also about her writing of young adult fiction. The third book in her Watermark trilogy, Zillah was a finalist in this year’s New Zealand Post Book Awards.


Emma Neale has also had a productive year, with the release of her collection of poetry Spark, and also of an anthology of New Zealand Poetry she has edited titled Swings + Roundabouts. We’ll chat about her work, and also the challenges faced by an editor in selecting works for an anthology representing so many people’s writing.


To listen to this show click here.

May 14 2008

First I’ll be chatting to Helen Leach about her latest book The Pavlova Story: A slice of New Zealand’s culinary history. Helen is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Otago who has enjoyed studying the cultural history of food and recipes and how they evolve. Pavlova is dear to all our hearts, and stomachs, and we’ll chat about the fascinating history of this dish.



Lloyd Davis is a zoologist, writer and film maker, and science communicator, dedicated to making science popular and assessable. He has written numerous books on penguins, for adults and children. Looking for Darwin was released last year and he co-wrote the recently released The business of Documentary Filmmaking. We will chat about his books and his new role as the Stuart Chair in Science Communication at the University of Otago.


To listen to this show click here.

April 9 2008

This month I’ll be chatting with first time novelist Louise Moulin about her recently released book Saltskin. Set in late eighteenth century and modern day Riverton, this is a novel tying the present and the past in the pursuit of love. It is a colourful story full of lively characters and mariners fables.





I’ll also talk with our 2008 Robert Burns Fellow, Sue Wootton about what the fellowship means to her, and her recently released second collection of poetry, Magnetic South.


To listen to this show click here

March 12 2008

Bill O’Brien is a very busy writer of fiction and non-fiction for adults and children and is the 2008 Dunedin College of Education Writer in Residence. We’ll chat about his works, including his recently released book Invisible Evidence : Forensics in New Zealand.





Claire Beynon is an Artist and Poet and has recently combined her love of words and images in Open Book: Poetry and Images. Claire has had many fascinating adventures, including a two month stint with a scientific group in Antarctica, and more recently on The Breaksea, in remote Western Fiordland. We’ll talk about the effects of her environment on her images and poems and how the two are intertwined.

February 13 2008

My holiday continues, well, truth be told, I'm doing a Forensic Biology course at the Otago University Summer School, so I'll be replaying a requested show from late last year.


This month I have the pleasure of chatting with first time novelist Maxine Alterio about Ribbons of Grace. We’ll be chatting about the excitement of seeing that first novel in print and what goes on behind the scenes to get it there, and of course about the book itself, what inspired it and it’s fascinating characters.




Tania Roxborogh is a writer, teacher, family gal and all round very busy person. She has a new book, No it’s not OK: How to stop the cycle of bullying released in September. This is a very topical subject and we chat about bullying, and the difficulties facing children and their parents in this modern age of technology.