INSPIRATION
29
Think you’re
not into poetry?
THINK
AGAIN…
Get unstuck.
Live with purpose.
Molly Murphy Wittig, PhD
Clinical Psychologist
Paul Bourgeois - Chief Winemaker at Spy Valley Wines, finds a
perfect spot to read ahead of the Marlborough Book Festival 2018
STORY BY SONIA O'REGAN
Two highly acclaimed poets, who also
happen to be very good friends, will share
their stories and read their work during the
Marlborough Book Festival next month.
Selina Tusitala Marsh, who is the New Zealand Poet
Laureate, and Tusiata Avia are among 12 guest authors
coming to the festival held in Blenheim and surrounds
from Friday 6 July to Sunday 8 July.
Selina and Tusiata will interview each other in a
session at the Blenheim Boathouse Theatre, and they
will each be interviewed by Jane Forrest Waghorn
in separate sessions at the Treehouse at Cloudy Bay
winery. Selina will also speak at the Picton Library on
the evening of Monday 9 July.
Tusiata Avia
Dr. Wittig offers private therapy
sessions to adults and children
with anxiety
www. mollymurphywittig.com
027 231 4220
Book Festival co-organiser Sophie Preece says the
festival team heard the poets speak in Nelson last year
and were entertained, inspired and deeply moved.
“We wanted to give Marlborough audiences a chance
to hear from them. And for those people who think
‘oh, I’m not really into poetry’, I’d really urge them to
put that to one side, because I think a much wider
audience will enjoy hearing from Selina and Tusiata.”
Selina is the first Pasifika woman New Zealand Poet
Laureate and its second youngest recipient. She lives
on Waiheke Island and lectures in both creative writing
and Maori and Pacific Literary Studies at the University
of Auckland.
Her latest collection, 'Tightrope', made the long-list for
the Ockham New Zealand National Book Awards for
Best Book of Poetry 2018.
Meanwhile, Tusiata grew up in Christchurch, the
daughter of a Scottish mother and a Samoan father.
Her latest poetry collection, 'Fale Aitu/Spirit House',
was shortlisted for the 2017 Ockham New Zealand
Book Awards. The judges described it as “an urgent,
politicised collection, which finds eloquent ways to
dramatise and speak out against horrors, injustices
and abuses, both domestic and public. The poems are
tough, sensuous, often unnerving”.
Jane Forrest Waghorn, a librarian-turned-wine
company owner, who has been an emcee at the
festival since it began, is looking forward to meeting
the poets and talking with them.
Selina Tusitala Marsh
“They are both incredible performers who write
powerful amazing work,” Jane says.
For more information and tickets
www.marlboroughbookfest.co.nz, or buy tickets over
the counter at Paper Plus Blenheim. Tickets are selling
fast, so please buy soon to avoid disappointment.
Call now for a quote:
Phone: 03-541-0984
e: [email protected]
44 Beach Road, Richmond, Nelson