9 December 2009

Vanda Symon has just released her latest Sam Shephard Crime Fiction novel, the third in the series. Guest interviewer Tania Roxoborogh will talk with Vanda about the new book, the pleasures of writing a crime series, and the fun to be had with writing books set locally.






Anthony Tedeschi is the Rare Books Librarian at the Dunedin Public Library. The library has had many wonderful collections donated to it over the years, including the McNab Collection, and the AH Reed Collection. We replay the talk we had in September about some of the benefactors, and where we discussed some of the treasures held in our public library.

11 November 2009

Ian Chapman is a mild mannered university academic by day, and transforms into Dr Glam by night, ok, and by day too, if occasion demands. We talk about Glam rock, and about his recently released book Glory Days, which celebrates the 1970's as seem through the eyes of some of its prominent participants.






Diana Gabaldon is an American writer and Best-Selling author of the Outlander series of books which are a winning combination of historic fiction, modern day, science fiction, romance and adventure. Diana was recently in Dunedin promoting the seventh book in the series, An Echo in the Bone. We talked about the pleasures and challenges of writing such a sprawling saga that covers turbulent times in history from Culloden to the American Revolution.

14 October 2009

Liam McIlvanney's first fiction novel All the Colours of the Town was released earlier this month. Set in Belfast and Glasgow it follows the fortunes of Glaswegian journalist Gerry Conway as he follows the sniff of a story across to Belfast and discovers hatred and sectarian violence. Liam McIlvanney is a recent arrival to New Zealand from Scotland to take up the Stuart Chair of Scottish studies at the University of Otago. We'll talk about what drove a Robert Burns specialist to write crime, and the picture he paints of the two cities.





Tania Roxborogh is the writer of over twenty books for adults and children and is a woman with a passion for Shakespeare. This passion has lead her to write Banquo's Son, a sequel to Macbeth. We talk about taking over the story of Fleance where the bard left off, and the journey she has taken to get this book published.

9 September 2009

Dr Chris Brickell is a senior lecturer in Gender Studies at The University of Otago and his recent book Mates & Lovers: A History of Gay New Zealand won the Montana Award for Best First Non-Fiction book at the 2009 awards. The book looks at the history of gay men in New Zealand, and we discuss the perception of same sex relationships over the centuries and the impact law and psychiatry had on the lives of men.





Anthony Tedeschi is the Rare Books Librarian at the Dunedin Public Library. The library has had many wonderful collections donated to it over the years, including the McNab Collection, and the AH Reed Collection. We talk about some of the benefactors, and discuss some of the treasures held in our public library.

10 August 2009

Longacre Press is a Dunedin publishing house whose titles have been making big waves in the book world. I’ll be talking with Annette Riley about the world of literature from the publishers perspective.


Brian Turner is one of New Zealand’s best loved poets and essayists, and a Central Otago legend. We’ll chat about his writing, and his latest books, Into the Wider World: A Back Country Miscellany and Just This: Poems.

8 July 2009

Michael Harlow is a poet and the 2009 University of Otago Robert Burns Fellow. He has recently released his sixth collection of poetry The Tram Conductor's Blue Cap. We'll talk about his new collection, what it means to him to be the Burns fellow, and also be resident in Castleberg House.






Graham Bishop is a geologist, writer and poet and has published seven books. His latest is a biography of New Zealand geologist and telephoto lens pioneer Alexander McKay. We talk about the man behind the book, The Real McKay.

10 June 2009

Raymond Huber’s children’s novel Sting buzzed out into the world earlier this year. Raymond had previously written science books for school children, and this is his first work of fiction.We’ll talk about Sting and bees and the pleasures of combining art and science.






Joanna Orwin is the 2009 Otago University College of Education Children’s Writer in Residence. She is an award winning writer of many children’s fiction and non-fiction books. We’ll talk about her writing and the residency, and also about her more recent works including My Story, Kauri In My Blood. The Diary of Laura Ann Findlay. The Coromandel, 1921-24.