Leading novelist at local library

Literary lovers are in for a major treat this month, when renowned New Zealand writer Dame Fiona Kidman will be in Snells Beach for an author’s talk.

An Intimate Evening with Dame Fiona Kidman is being held at Mahurangi East Library on Wednesday, July 26 as part of the library’s Winter Words season.

Interviewed by former BBC journalist Juliet Robieson, Dame Fiona will discuss her lengthy and prolific literary life, which has ranged from working as a librarian and freelance journalist to writing numerous novels, short stories, scripts, plays, poems and non-fiction.

She has also won many major book awards, presided over NZ’s leading literary organisations and established several national events to celebrate and encourage writing, including Women’s Book Week, Writers in Schools and Words on Wheels.

Although she has lived in Wellington for more than 50 years, Dame Fiona was born and brought up in Northland and lived for several years on a farm in Waipu. Her writing is described as exploring feminist self-discovery and social validation, often featuring rebellious women who resist being trapped by traditional social values.

Her novels include This Mortal Boy, All the Way to Summer, The Captive Wife and The Book of Secrets.

Mahurangi East library manager Fleur Coleman says the evening follows on from the success of a previous literary talk run by the library in 2021, with writer Paula Morris, plus a bit of good old-fashioned networking – Dame Fiona has a cousin who lives locally, who was able to help ‘oil the wheels’.

The talk, which was made possible thanks to the sponsorship of the Friends of Mahurangi East Library, runs from 6.45pm to 9.30pm and will include drinks and refreshments. Tickets cost $10, or $8 for students (R13) from www.eventfinda.co.nz/2023/an-intimate-evening-with-dame-fiona-kidman/auckland/snells-beach/tickets