Going West Books & Writers Festival Media Releases 2009

3 September

Books and Poetry Slam at Going West

Books of all shapes, sizes, age and condition come to the fore at the Going West Book Market on Saturday 5 September from 9am-2pm at Titirangi War Memorial Hall.

The Book Market is part of the month-long Going West Books and Writers Festival 2009 which celebrates the best in New Zealand writing and ideas across a range of events.

Be the first to delve among the wares from the best second-hand and rare booksellers in the region.

But the Book Market is more than just any book sale - you can enjoy displays, great local music, snacks, espresso and on-the-spot market valuations. New for 2009 is the Going West Book Auction in association with Bethunes@Webbs. Register for the auction with Murray Gray on 817-3236 or murray@gonewestbooks.com

Later on the same day at Titirangi War Memorial Hall, is the Sixth Annual Going West Poetry Slam where locals and those from further afield compete to be the best in performance poetry. With a first prize purse of $500, the event draws poets from around the country to put their rhyme on the line and slam with the best.

And if you're too shy to take to the stage, cheer on the contestants. The action all gets underway at 7pm and entry is just $10 on the door.

This year marks 14 years since the Going West Books and Writers Festival 2009 was first started. The festival started in August with the sold-out season of Krishnan's Dairy, and has included exhibitions, workshops and a writers in schools programme.

The highlight of the festival is the Literary Weekend 'By Buy Bye The Book' which takes place at Titirangi War Memorial Hall on September 11-13 and features leading contemporary New Zealand writers and wordsmiths as well as the world premiere of new poetry/music production North:South and a one night only performance of the award-winning Te Radar's Eating The Dog.

The festival ends with Storyfest - a free family event at Kelston Community Centre on Saturday 26 September.

20 August

Books, Poetry and Performance at Going West Books and Writers Festival 2009

A world premiere performance, the popular Book Market and Poetry Slam, a line-up of leading contemporary writers and a free children's storytelling day feature as part of Going West Books and Writers Festival 2009.

Exhibitions, seminars, workshops and the Wordsmiths touring programme in schools also feature in the Festival which takes place in Waitakere City during August and September.

Now in its 14th year, the Festival celebrates the work of New Zealand writers and performers.

The Festival has started with the Wordsmiths programme which sends writers into Waitakere schools to talk about their work and inspire students in their own writing. This year, film writer Zia Mandviwalla, fiction and non-fiction writer John Parker, journalist Nick Bollinger and poet Courtney Meredith head into schools for a three week programme which runs until Friday 4 September.

The 2009 Festival theatre season features Indian Ink Theatre Company's superb solo play Krishnan's Dairy at the Glen Eden Playhouse Theatre from 26-29 August and with a week to go before opening night, the season is almost fully sold out. Tickets are still available for the Saturday 29 August 2pm performance.

Books of all shapes, sizes, age and condition come to the fore at the Book Market on Saturday 5 September at the Titirangi War Memorial Hall from 9am-2pm. The best second-hand and rare booksellers in the region along with demonstrations and displays, great local music, snacks, espresso and on-the-spot market valuations. A new feature for 2009 is the Going West Book Auction in association with Bethunes@Webbs.

For those who enjoy the drama of performance, put your rhyme on the line and come and slam with the best at the Sixth Annual Going West Poetry Slam on Saturday 5 September from 7pm at the Titirangi War Memorial Hall. Too shy to take to the stage? Cheer on the contestants. Entry is just $10 on the door.

This year's Going West Literary Weekend 'By Buy Bye The Book', Titirangi War Memorial Hall, is set to be memorable, bringing together leading contemporary New Zealand writers with a premiere of a new poetry/music performance, a FREE afternoon celebrating Waitakere, a one-night-only comedy performance and a special Los Angeles guest!

The literary weekend is the main highlight of Going West Books and Writers Festival and takes place from 11-13 September at the Titirangi War Memorial Hall.

The weekend begins on Friday night at 7.00 pm. This year's keynote speaker is writer, comedian, amateur historian and raconteur Te Radar who is sure to be entertaining and enlightening.

Also on Friday night, Going West Books and Writers Festival is proud to present the world premiere of North:South - inspired by Glenn Colquhoun's epic poetry cycle of the same name, where the gods and goddesses of Maori and Celtic mythology meet, clash and fall in love. The poet and the combined musical might of Richard Nunns (taonga puoro) and Bob Bickerton (celtic musician) bring this riotous tale to life.

Going West Books and Writers Festival is the only New Zealand literature festival which focuses solely on New Zealand writers and wordsmiths. Every year the weekend draws leading contemporary writers to discuss, debate and entertain.

At this year's festival, Dame Anne Salmond provides a sneak preview of her new book Aphrodite's Island ahead of its publication, and we hear from Kate De Goldi, whose novel The 10pm Question won the NZ Post's Young Adult Ficition and Book of the Year awards and was runner-up in the Fiction category and won the Readers Choice Award at the 2009 Montana Book Awards.

Distinguished professor of English Brian Boyd shines a light on the origins of storytelling from Homer's Odyssey to Dr Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, and we gain an insight into the extraordinary life of Dorothy Butler. Poets Bill Manhire, Harry Ricketts, Kevin Ireland and Selina Tusitala Marsh share their work while celebrity chef Richard Till talks about championing the food we grew up on and rustles up something to eat!

On Saturday, a FREE afternoon, Westside Forever, celebrates West Auckland writers and features a behind-the-scenes look at the West's very own award-winning TV show Outrageous Fortune with co-creators James Griffin and Rachel Lang together with Robyn Malcolm (Cheryl) and Simon Prast.

Plus there's discussion with the authors of WEST- the history of Waitakere, Ruth Kerr and Finlay Macdonald; Sandra Coney introduces her new book Piha - Guardians of the Iron Sands, tracing the first 75 years of the Piha Surf Life Saving Club and its "proud tradition of (volunteer) guards as tough as its surf"; Titirangi's Lyn Loates and Michele Powles join critic David Larsen to talk about writing and their first novels, Butterscotch and Weathered Bones respectively; and, at cocktail hour, we launch of the new book The Ironbound Coast - Karekare in the Early Years, edited by Mayor Bob Harvey and published by Peter Dowling of Oratia Media

Saturday night features a special one-night-only performance of Te Radar's Eating The Dog - a comedy show which celebrates the lives of the misfits, the failures and those who died trying. Tickets for Te Radar's Eating The Dog are sold separately and are $20 each from www.eventfinder.co.nz.

Two very special sessions feature on Sunday: Panther Rapp featuring Polynesian Panther Party members Will 'Ilolahia and Dr Melani Anae together with special guest Emory Douglas* of the US Black Panther Party (*as part of the Elam Artist in Residence programme at The University of Auckland); and Give Peace a Chance: A celebration of New Zealand's anti-nuclear stance with Phil Dadson of From Scratch and the screening of Gregor Nicholas' Cannes/Midem Visual Music Awards Grand Prix winning film Pacific 321 Zero.

The final event of Going West Books and Writers Festival 2009 is the annual Storyfest - a free day of events for children held on Saturday 26 September at Kelston Community Centre. This year's theme is 'Coastlines - Living at the Edge'.

Going West Books and Writers Festival 2009 runs until late September. Tickets for the Literary Weekend 'By Buy Bye The Book' are $130 for the full weekend or $30 for Friday, $50 for Saturday (excluding Te Radar's Eating the Dog) and $85 for Sunday. Concession prices are available and all weekend and day tickets include meals (morning and afternoon teas and lunch). Single session tickets (Saturday and Sunday only) are available on the door or buy four and receive one free. Saturday 2-7pm is FREE to all.

14 July

Acclaimed play Krishnan's Dairy heads West for Going West Festival

After playing to sold out houses around New Zealand, in Australia, in Singapore and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and collecting awards along the way . the internationally acclaimed solo play Krishnan's Dairy is finally coming to West Auckland.

Going West Books and Writers Festival 2009 presents Indian Ink Theatre Company's Krishnan's Dairy at the Playhouse Theatre, Glen Eden for five performances only from Wednesday 26 to Saturday 29 August. "Jacob and I are absolutely thrilled to have been invited by Going West to bring Krishnan's Dairy to West Auckland," says Indian Ink producer Justin Lewis.

"The play has been such a major part of our lives for 12 years and we've been stunned at how well it has been received around the world."

Krishnan's Dairy takes two of the most universal Indian cliches - the Taj Mahal and the corner store - and fuses them into a funny and touching love story. Gobi and Zina Krishnan have moved to New Zealand in search of a better life for themselves and their child. They work hard and keep their dreams stacked on the shelves of their struggling business - Krishnan's Dairy.

"The corner shop is an international phenomenon that contains elements universal to all cultures and also specific to the country or city in which they are found. We call them the 'dairy' and they sell all manner of goods from light bulbs to meat pies, chewing gum to stockings and of course milk, bread and ice cream," Justin says.

"Krishnan's Dairy salutes that spirit in whatever corner of the world people have chosen to set up their corner shop."

Woven into the story of Gobi and Zina is the epic tale of the Taj Mahal, one of the wonders of the world and an enduring testament to the love of one man for his wife. A love story unfolds behind the counter with hilarious and deeply moving consequences for the hopeful, vulnerable lives of this immigrant shopkeeper and his wife.

The play, starring Jacob Rajan, debuted in 1997 and since then has played to more than 47,000 people, consistently receiving rave reviews and sell out houses.

"This is a piece of absolute enchantment. Jacob Rajan is extraordinary. Playing all parts with lightening switches of masks, he unearths the profoundly touching comedy of these hopeful, vulnerable lives." - The Scotsman

Krishnan's Dairy is part of Going West Books and Writers Festival 2009 and is at Playhouse Theatre, Glen Eden from Wednesday 26 to Saturday 29 August with performances at 8pm daily and a matinee on Saturday 29 August at 2pm. A forum with co-creators Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis will take place on Friday 28 August following that night's performance. Tickets are $28 full price, $25 concession, $20 groups 8+, and $17.50 students. Service fees will apply. Book at Ticketmaster on 0800 111 999 or www.ticketmaster.co.nz. For more information visit www.goingwest.co.nz.

"Such is the power of Jacob Rajan's ground-breaking work: it changes the way you see the world. such riveting theatre that you would have to have a heart of reinforced concrete not to be captivated. [Rajan] is a stage natural, economical in movement, fluid in gesture, never in-your-face but unforgettably in-your-presence. all New Zealanders should see it." - NZ Listener