1. Pauline, Genny and Philippa have matching purple suitcases. Anthony and I do not.
2. Never read bad poetry in a Montreal bar. Unless you want a beer bottle thrown at you. Heather O’Neill said it did make her learn quickly.
3. Shonagh Koea doesn’t like jam but she does like marmalade. Her story about marmalade was the first of her food themed stories which became the book “Kindness of Strangers : Kitchen Memoirs”
4. I really do judge books by their covers. Iain Sharpe’s “Real Gold : Treasures of the Auckland City Libraries” caught my attention as soon as it came out with it’s lovely but surprising apples on the cover (The reasoning behind the apples was discussed but not explained). While I was aware of Linda Tyler’s “Ka Taoka Hakena: Treasures from the Hocken Collections”, the dull grey building on the cover did not entice me to give any time. At the Taonga in Tikiland session however it was Tyler who had the juicier, fruitier stories, while Sharpe’s were a bit dull.
5. Roger Hall is a New Zealand ambassador to UNICEF. He is donating all the proceeds of book sales for the weekend to the organisation.
6. Nicole Kidman owns a Colin McCahon painting.
7. Peter Simpson likes numbers. His book “Colin McCahon: The Titirangi Years 1953 – 59” is great for McCahon fanatics but I found it a bit heavy on numbers – dates, measurements, average annual painting output etc.
8. What it takes to be a great columnist. In no particular order, I according to columnists Steve Braunias, Tapu Misa and James Griffin:
· Respect for deadlines
· Endurance
· Self belief
· A distinctive voice
· And being interested in stuff – anything and everything so that you have something to say
9. My current activity makes me part of a “confederacy of idiots called the blogosphere”, according to the cheeky bastard Braunius. He also gave a tip to never read your own writing – “it’s an exercise in self loathing”.
10. Junot Diaz has one of the most pleasant American accents that I have heard. I am looking forward to hearing him again tomorrow night.
isn’t it strange how we all still judge a book by its cover – visual enticement still sells a book initially.
however, hearing authors and readers speak about it makes the content come alive. says a lot for reader’s advisory coming back as a key point of difference for good customer service for public library staff (after all, good booksellers have been doing it for years anyhow …)
really liked your post – great round-up of all sorts of things that you’ve learnt today, especially loved the fact that Roger Hall & Nicole Kidman made it into the same post *grin*
looking forward to more from the fesitval.