International Institute of Modern Letters
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HARRY RICKETTS: A LIFE IN WRITING
The publication of his acclaimed memoir First Things presented a great opportunity to talk to Harry Ricketts about a lifetime of writing. Harry had recently retired after a long and distinguished teaching career at Te Herenga Waka— Victoria University of Wellington. His work includes a major biography of Rudyard Kipling, a study of the Great…
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ANNA SMAILL and CARL SHUKER
Literary power couple Anna Smaill (Bird Life) and Carl Shuker (The Royal Free) talked with novelist Emily Perkins at Te Papa on 2 September 2024. They discussed their work, their life together, and how to survive both artistic setbacks and triumphs. Anna’s first novel, The Chimes, won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, while…
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The Poet’s Novel: Romesh Dissanayake and Louise Wallace
In her incendiary novel Ash, Louise Wallace tells the story of a woman reckoning with the limits of her life under the patriarchy. When I Open the Shop by romesh dissanayake is ‘a novel about loss, exile, and dislocation, in which time, space, and memory become a beautiful, fluid thing’ (Brannavan Gnanalingam). These début novelists are also poets who have used formal…
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