THE GROOVE BOOK REPORT

WOMAD BOOK CLUB New to WOMAD is Book Club.  This is all all about bringing people together, to encourage conversation and allow the open exploration of a different perspective from the themes within a select book while getting insights from the author themselves. The book chosen for the inaugural WOMAD Book Club is the award-winning memoir by NZ author Chessie Henry, "We Can Make A Life". Grab a copy and get reading! "We Can Make A Life" is an an extraordinary memoir about the psychological cost of heroism, home and belonging, and how a family made a life together. Hours after the 2011 Christchuch Earthquake, Kaikōura-based doctor Chris Henry crawled through the burning CTV building to rescue those who were trapped. Six years later, his daughter Chessie interviews him in an attempt to understand the trauma that led her father to burnout, in the process unravelling stories and memories from her own remarkable family history. Chessie Henry will be...

A mixture of well-known New Zealanders and new talent feature in the NZ Booklovers Awards 2020 shortlist announced today. Books by Gregg McGee, Rachel Hunter, Josh Emett, Eleanor Ozich, Donovan Bixley, David Hall and Gavin Bishop are among the diverse range of titles nominated for the NZ Booklovers Awards, along with exciting new writers.                 Six books are shortlisted in each of the three award categories: adult fiction, lifestyle books and children’s books. NZ Booklovers Director Karen McMillan says the awards, now in their second year, received 88 entries and the quality was superb. ‘The judges were excited to see the variety of books that our talented New Zealand authors have produced,’ she says. ‘Our fiction award celebrates the best in storytelling, a book that is well-written but also unputdownable. Our lifestyle award celebrates the non-fiction books that have the ability to enrich ...

Beloved Unity Books in Auckland's High Street has made it to the shortlist of three to be in the running for International Bookstore of the Year 2020. The shop's been running since 1989 and is the only surviving independent bookstore in Auckland's CBD. Owner operator, Jo McColl said it was a real honour and fantastic to be acknowledged especially at a time when digital media is so demanding of our attention.  The LBF International Excellence Awards  A record 29 countries have been shortlisted for the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards 2020.  The awards, held in partnership with the UK Publishers Association, celebrate publishing success in 16 categories, representing the best publishing ambassadors, innovative publishing, and ground-breaking initiatives in the industry. In each award category, the judging panel was comprised of experts in that sector. Colombia, Croatia, Mozambique, Uganda and Yemen have been shortlisted for the first t...

It's finally out in the world.  The project by Charlotte Yates, featuring the music of many Kiwi artists and the poetry from Wellington's own beloved writer is here! Charlotte Yates launched her Mansfield album last night at Meow. The album is the first contemporary music album dedicated to her poetry, and gives a fresh focus to the ever intriguing, multi-faceted literary icon, Katherine Mansfield, with jazz to spoken word, soul to alt country, creating beautiful and emotive songs which illuminating her words for all to hear. Yates was also responsible for corralling a whole cache of musicians and singers to compose music around the poems of James K Baxter, Hone Tuwhare and Whiti Ihamaera. Now she turns her sights on our capitals’ own beloved author. Mansfield features the talents of 12 artists who have written and recorded settings of Katherine Mansfield's poetry, featuring: Anna Coddington/Charlotte Yates/Julia Deans/The Bats/Godfrey de Grut feat. Tusiata A...

Trying to track doem a poem, or a poet? Looking for a quote or some inspiration? Try www.poemhunter.com We were recently looking for all the poem's used for Charlotte Yate's new project Mansfield (KM's poetry put to music by a range of NZ artists).  The book of her poetry is a bit of a challenge to track down.  Poem Hunter to the rescue! Obviously, not every poem is here but it does cover a surprisingly wide range of poets and material. Give it a go!

Writers are artists who create worlds with words drawn from their experiences and imaginations. They pull us through time and space, hold up revealing mirrors, refigure the way we live and question the DNA of our every day. For the 2020 New Zealand Festival of the Arts, the Writers programme has been extended over three invigorating weeks to present even more extraordinary voices that will take us on journeys to Zambia, Chernobyl, America, Antarctica and back to talk sex, science, gender politics and Aotearoa. We ride into love, hug trees, peer at the future, question who we are, confront inequality and discover what keeps us awake at night. With three stimulating weeks to celebrate writers, take the time to listen, ask questions and connect to stories and ideas from writers the world over. The writers include Elizabeth Knox ( The Vintner's Luck, The Absolute Book ), Jung Chang ( Wild Swans, Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister ), Johka Alharti ( Celestial Bodies )...

Verb Wellington ,  Park Hotel  and  Katherine Mansfield House & Garden  have come together to offer an opportunity to spend time in one of the world’s most vibrant literary cities. “During Mansfield’s short life, which was tragically cut short by tuberculosis in France at age 34, she changed the way the short story was written in the English language and her own life story and words fill the rooms the house here on Tinakori Road,” says Cherie Jacobson, Director of Katherine Mansfield House and Garden. “I think a writer will feel very much at home here!” Applications for the Verb Wellington Residency are invited from writers of short stories, novels, poetry, creative non-fiction and memoir. The Residency will take place for three weeks during June and July and includes a NZD$1,000 stipend. More information, FAQs and the application form can be found  here . We invite writers from anywhere in the world to apply....

Ever since the Christchurch earthquakes, there's been a plethora of kid's books 'based on true events' coming out.  So, what makes Dozer stand out from the others? It's true, there have been books about aeronautical felines ( The Cat From Muzzle ), stranded bovine (Moo, Moo and Little Calf, Too)  and all manner of other lost and found pets and livestock. I don't know if it would be fair to compare all these books to one another.  Each is unique.  But all of them have a simliar theme about resilience, determination and strength personality in the face of adversity. Dozer is one of those, too.  Although there is a bit of a twist.  Dozer the cat doesn't do anything heroic.  Quite the opposite, his naevity almost gets him killed! In February, 2019, the tiny, bucolic farming community of Pidgeon Valley, outside Nelson, saw a huge fire erupt following the flare up in a paddock.  It was the biggest since 1955.  Up to 150 volunteer firefig...

Stephen Hawking may be gone but his influence continues on, into the future.  In our latest review, the CoffeeBar Kid finds the Hawking's new book is the perfect guide to everything you've ever wanted to know about our world and beyond. What would it have been like to walk the lava-filled earth four and a half billion years ago?   Or take your first step on the surface of the moon?  And what would you do if robots took over the world? In their series of novels, George's Secret Key to the Universe , Lucy and Stephen Hawking imagined what great adventures one boy might have if he travelled through space. However, those books were based on real-life facts - and together Lucy and Stephen collected an incredible wealth of information about everything from life on Mars to the secrets of black holes. For the first time that same non-fiction content has been collected into one astonishing volume, with brand new content for 2020, including facts abou...