Sunday 3 November 2019 – 1pm to 5.30pm

Raye Freedman Arts Centre, Epsom Girls’ Grammar School, Corner of Silver Road & Gillies Avenue, Epsom, Auckland.

The programme is as follows

1pm Elizabeth Smither – Loving Sylvie  The relationship between 3 generations of women, particularly grandmother & granddaughter, is explored in this novel with the gentle wisdom of one of our finest poets.

1.20pm Margie Thomson – Womankind  A landmark publication, with stunning words & images, about NZ women – all ages & ethnicities, famous & unknown – who have truly ‘made a difference’.

1.40pm Laurence Fearnley – Scented  A fascinating, poignant new novel about a women’s search for identity after her university career ends – obsessed with scent, she creates unique perfumes.

1.55pm Whiti Hereaka – Winner 2019 Young Adult Fiction Award for Legacy , & editor, with Witi Ihimaera, of the spellbinding Purakau: Maori Myths Retold by Maori Writers

2.15pm Helen Rickerby – How to Live  Poetry publisher from Seraph Press with her own new collection – witty, philosophical, feminist poems about women’s lives, that experiment with the poetic form

2.25pm Ruby Porter – Attraction  Provocative, engaging & highly praised first novel takes 3 young women on a road trip, navigating their relationships & NZ’s colonial past.

2.40pm Bernadette (Bets) Gee – Magnolia Kitchen  She’s an Instagram sensation & her book bulges with delectable recipes (including allergy-free), clever tips & sensational decorating inspiration

3pm – 3.45pm Afternoon Tea

3.45pm Marilyn Waring – The Political Years “This frank narrative of courage & tenacity in the face of an intensely patriarchal & homophobic polity will surprise & reward readers across generations” Sue Bradford

4.10pm Rosetta Allan – The Unreliable People A whole population exiled by Stalin, a Korean folk tale, Kazakhstan, a young art student searching for identity – – a fascinating novel.

4.25pm Linda Burgess – Someone’s Wife  A delightful collection of essays, personal & universal, exploring family, teaching, living overseas, being the wife of an All Black . . . witty & moving

4.40pm Vana Manasiadis – The Grief Almanac; A Sequel  A bold combination of poetry, essays, memoir, a lost mother, melding Greek with English; unconventional & richly textured.

4.50pm Elizabeth Knox – The Absolute Book  New from the brilliantly imaginative Knox, an epic fantasy with secrets, treasures, revenge, & three people driven towards a reckoning felt in more than one world.

5.10pm Mary Kisler – Finding Frances Hodgkins  The curator of the recent magnificent exhibition at Auckland Art Gallery, travelled throughout Europe & UK, following in Hodgkins’ fascinating footsteps.