QLDC Libraries across the district are celebrating World Book Day 2023 with a series of local author talks. Meet writers from a variety of genres as they share their work, inspiration, and ideas.
Links to individual events
Queenstown Events Centre
Frankton Library
- Saturday 15 April at 11.00am – Sol Pineda
- Saturday 15 April at 1.00pm - Franciska Soares
- Thursday 20 April at 5.30pm – Jane Shearer
- Thursday 27 April at 5.30pm – Martin Barrett
Queenstown Library
- Saturday 15 April at 1.00pm – Jane Bloomfield
- Thursday 20 April at 5.30pm – Franciska Soares
- Saturday 22 April at 2.00pm – Jane Shearer
- Thursday 4 May at 5.30pm – B.G. Rogers
Wānaka Library
- Thursday 20 April at 5.30pm – Brian Hall
- Thursday 27 April at 5.30pm – Sophie Rogers
- Saturday 6 May at 11.00am – Alice Bennet
- Saturday 13 May at 11.00am – Chris Long
- Thursday 25 May at 5.30pm – R.W.R McDonald
Downloadable programmes
Author Profiles
Alice Bennett
Wānaka local, Alice Bennet, will be sharing her journey writing children’s picture book Princesses can’t Play Rugby. Alice will share what inspired her to write her first book, why she chose to share this story and her experience of writing and going to print.
B. G. Rogers
B. G. Rogers is a short story writer and poet from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (UK). She currently lives in Queenstown, Aotearoa New Zealand with a ginormous house rabbit called Oscar Wilde. She’s a founding trustee of the Queenstown Writers Festival and a member and organiser of the Queenstown Creative Writing Group. Kaleidoscopes in the Dark is Bethany’s first short story collection.
Brian Hall
Author and professional mountaineer Brian Hall has over forty years’ experience at the highest level of climbing. Brian has been on expeditions to Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bolivia and Peru. Brian’s focus in recent years has been his business ‘Film and Mountain’ which provided safety and location advice on film and photography projects such as the BAFTA award winning film, Touching the Void. His book High Risk – Climbing to Extinction was published in 2022 and won the Boardman Tasker Mountain Literature Award.
Chris Long
Chris Long grew up at Gorge River on the wild West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island, a two-day hike from the nearest road. In his memoir The Boy from Gorge River Chris shares his stories from a childhood living wild, where food was caught in the river, grown by his mother, or hunted from the land to his travels in over 60 countries across six continents. Now at 30, Chris’s experiences include working on a Russian icebreaker, teaching wilderness safety in Antarctica and with Huskies in Norway.
Franciska Soares
Newly published local author Franciska Soares’s novel They Whisper in My Blood is a historical family saga that tells the tale of a moving love story. Her characters love to challenge the status quo, Franciska alleges, they are not averse to pushing the boundaries, they are imperfect and flawed and that’s what makes them human.
Jane Bloomfield
Queenstown writer Jane Bloomfield is the author of the much-loved Lily Max children’s trilogy. Aimed at 8 – 13-year-olds, the Lily Max adventures showcase her spunky, creative heroine with plenty of humour and girls ‘can do’ attitude. The books also explore the themes of family, love and loyalty drawn from her own childhood.
Jane Shearer
Set in Ōtautahi Christchurch from 2020 to 2022, Jane Shearer’s debut novel Broken is Beautiful tackles the thorny issue of how to be friends across ideological divides in COVID times. The novel draws from Shearer’s lived experience of the Canterbury earthquakes, and our collective experience of the recent pandemic. Jane is a trained geologist and professional non-fiction writer.
Martin Barrett
Martin Barrett’s fictional novel The Heretics’ Revenge is based on the true background history of the Cathar persecution at Montségur and reveals a long-hidden proof that will shake the Vatican. Martin is a retired mechanical engineer born and educated in London, but who has spent most of his life in New Zealand.
R.W.R. McDonald
R.W.R. McDonald is an award-winning New Zealand author who lives in Melbourne, Australia. His debut novel, The Nancys, won Best First Novel in the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards, as well as being a finalist in the Best Novel category. Rob also runs online writing courses and co-founded the QWS Podcast, Queer Writes Sessions, in partnership with Blarney Books & Arts in Port Fairy. Rob’s novels The Nancy’s and Nancy Business are murder mysteries.
Sol Pineda
Sol Pineda is a Certified Health and Wellness Coach, with a degree in economics. A yoga teacher and Animal Flow lover, she is passionate about spirituality and holistic healing. Sol’s book You are this Instant presents a step by-by-step guide on how to be more present through conscious action.
Sophie Rogers
Local author Sophie Rogers’ debut novel Nightshades and Paperwhites is set in Alexandra in 1866 after the Gold Rush has been and gone. This story delves into the history of the lives of Chinese miners, family, relationships, murder, mystery, and secrets. Join us in conversation with Sophie as she reveals her journey from writing to publishing her first novel.