The Featherston Booktown Podcast

This week, Shane Te Pou and Phil Quin sat down with musician/teacher/local legend - Featherston’s own Warren Maxwell. Warren has made a significant contribution to music both in New Zealand and internationally as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and a driving force behind many musical projects including Trinity Roots, Fat Freddy's Drop and Little Bushman. Warren is also a longtime friend of Featherston Booktown and a presenter at this year’s Young Reader’s Programme. https://www.booktown.org.nz/

The murder of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe in their Pukekawa farmhouse in 1970 remains Aotearoa New Zealand’s most famous cold case. It spawned two trials, two appeals, a Royal commission finding of police corruption and a free pardon, and still the killer has not been found. Journalists Kirsty Johnston and James Hollings conducted their own investigation in their new book The Crewe Murders. Kirsty talks to Shane Te Pou and Phil Quin about the infamous murder case and the state of journalism today. Content warning: this episode contains mentions of murder and a brief mention of sexual assault. https://www.booktown.org.nz/

Dame Susan Elizabeth Anne Devoy is a New Zealand former squash player and senior public servant. As a squash player, she was dominant in the late 1980s and early 1990s, winning the World Open on four occasions. She served as New Zealand's Race Relations Commissioner from 2013 to 2018. Her new book ‘Dame Susy D’ is out now from Allen & Unwin. Dame Susan is the Guest Speaker for the Fish’n’Chip Supper at the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival. On this episode, she joins Shane Te Pou and Phil Quin to talk about the new book and her varied career. https://www.booktown.org.nz/

As a word, “activism” is only about 100 years old – yet activists and movements for change have become a regular feature of social, civic, and political life in the 21st century. However, activism is about human beings motivating and confronting other human beings to change, thereby being a fundamental human activity. Four prominent Aotearoa New Zealand activists, Denis O’Reilly, Dame Catherine Healy, Liz Mellish and Shaneel Lal share their absorbing personal and political journeys of words and actions with Guyon Espiner. This episode was recorded live at the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival in May 2023. The audio was recorded by Toby Mills of Noise Productions. This episode is also available as a video on our YouTube channel. https://www.booktown.org.nz/

Catherine Chidgey has been one of this country's leading fiction writers for a quarter of a century, producing novels that are both provocative and sublime, starting with In a Fishbone Church and including two novels set in Nazi Germany. Her Ockham Book Awards shortlisted book The Axeman's Carnival, has astonished readers with its magpie narrator and been called a 'Kiwi Gothic classic'. She has been awarded the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the Glenn Schaeffer Prize in Modern Letters and the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize. Catherine Chidgey was in conversation with Linda Clark at the 2023 Karukatea Festival. This audio and video of this event was recorded by Toby Mills from Noise Productions. Video of this event can be found on our YouTube channel HERE. https://www.booktown.org.nz/

Pasifika voices are among the most powerful in Aotearoa's New Zealand literary scene – original, provocative, funny, uplifting and heart-breaking. Four leading Pasifika writers – Victor Rodger, Nafanua Purcell Kersel, Tusiata Avia and Gina Cole – came together to at the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival in May 2023 read their own work and riff with host Makerita Urale. This audio and video of this event was recorded by Toby Mills from Noise Productions. https://www.booktown.org.nz/

November the 5th is a day of grief for Hon. Mahara Okeroa and Ockham Book Awards shortlisted author Rachel Buchanan, whose tūpuna were on the whenua when the Crown troops descended; a day of shame for Richard Shaw, whose great-grandfather was with the armed constabulary; a day of knowledge for academic Vincent O’Malley, who seeks to find the truth behind the records; and a day of atonement for former Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson, who delivered the Crown apology. The discussion attempted to face up to Parihaka and what it means to New Zealanders and was moderated by Ockham Book Awards short-listed author Paul Diamond. This panel discussion took place on Saturday 13 May 2023 at the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival. The video is also available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4tvuj1jvR7vWwGqdVV1DGw The video and audio was recorded by Toby Mills from Noise Productions. https://www.booktown.org.nz/

Late at night is when poets come to life and are at their best. Now you can re-live some of the best poets and poetry in Aotearoa NZ – Poet Laureate Chris Tse, Sam Duckor-Jones, Rachel Buchanan, Debbie Broughton and Frankie Leota captured during their performance at Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival in May this year. https://www.booktown.org.nz/

In this episode, Phil Quin talks to Andrea Vance, author of 'Blue Blood: The Inside Story of the National Party in Crisis.' Andrea Vance is a senior journalist at Stuff. Born in Northern Ireland, she worked in the Press Gallery at the New Zealand Parliament for nearly a decade, first with Stuff and then TVNZ. She spent seven years as an investigative journalist with the News of the World and was night news editor at the Scotsman. She is a Press Fellow of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. Musical theme by Kolya Marks. Edited by Denver Grenell. Produced by Phil Quin for Featherston Booktown. https://www.booktown.org.nz/

Roger Steele ONZM is a nearly retired publisher on the Kāpiti Coast. Over 25-odd years his company launched hundreds of fine writers and safeguarded a great deal of Aotearoa’s national treasure. His first published book was J.C. Sturm’s poems, and his last will be her collected works, later this year. Roger talks with Shane and Phil about his publishing experiences and what the future may hold for the publishing business. Roger Steele is appearing at the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival 2023 in 'Author Spotlight: The Pioneering Life and Work of Jacquie Sturm/Te Kare Papuni' on Sunday 14 May 2023. Tickets are available HERE. The full Festival Programme can be found HERE. Musical theme by Kolya Marks. Engineered by Huck Jackson at Radio Waatea. Edited by Denver Grenell. Produced by Denver Grenell & Phil Quin for Featherston Booktown. https://www.booktown.org.nz/

Sam Duckor-Jones is an artist & writer formerly of the Wairarapa, now of the West Coast. He has published two poetry collections with THWUP & shows regularly with Bowen Galleries. His current project is the immersive public sculpture Gloria of Greymouth. Sam will be appearing at multiple events during the Karukatea Festival, including Late Night Lit: The Mansfield Mash-up, Late Night Lit: Poet's Corner as well as curating his 'Paint it Pink: Pop Up Gloria' installation throughout the weekend. You can find more of Sam's work HERE. The Festival Programme can be found HERE. Musical theme by Kolya Marks. Engineered by Huck Jackson at Radio Waatea. Edited by Denver Grenell. Produced by Denver Grenell & Phil Quin for Featherston Booktown. https://www.booktown.org.nz/ https://www.booktown.org.nz/

Ryan Cahill is an Epic Fantasy author from Dublin, Ireland, now residing in New Zealand. His book series 'The Bound and The Broken' have sold over 100,000 copies worldwide. Ryan talks with Shane and Phil about how he forged his path as a writer and found success by doing things his way. Ryan Cahill will be appearing at Featherston Booktown as part of the 'Other Worlds - Sci-fi and Fantasy Fiction in New Zealand' event on Saturday 13 May. Tickets available HERE. Find Ryan Cahill's website HERE The Festival Programme can be found HERE. Musical theme by Kolya Marks. Engineered by Huck Jackson at Radio Waatea. Edited by Denver Grenell. Produced by Denver Grenell & Phil Quin for Featherston Booktown. https://www.booktown.org.nz/

In this episode, Shane Te Pou and Phil Quin talk to Featherston Booktown Operations Manager Mary Biggs about some of the highlights of the 2023 Festival programme. The Festival Programme can be found at: https://www.booktown.org.nz/ Tickets available HERE. Produced by Denver Grenell & Phil Quin for Featherston Booktown. Engineered by Huck Jackson at Radio Waatea. Edited by Denver Grenell. Musical theme by Kolya Marks. Artwork by Chris Miller. https://www.booktown.org.nz/

Hosts Shane Te Pou and Phil Quin talk to the legendary Shayne P. Carter (Straitjacket Fits, Dimmer) about his career in music and his writing process. Shayne will join broadcaster and Ockham Book Awards short-listed author Nick Bollinger and Featherston musician extraordinaire Warren Maxwell (Trinity Roots, Little Bushman) for 'Notes on the Page: Writing Music' at Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival 2023, where they will discuss their different approaches to their work and the challenges of making a life in music. Shayne P. Carter's autobiography, 'Dead People I Have Known', is out now from Victoria University Press. Tickets to 'Notes on the Page' are available HERE. The Festival Programme can be found HERE. Musical theme by Kolya Marks. Engineered by Huck Jackson at Radio Waatea. Edited by Denver Grenell. Produced by Denver Grenell & Phil Quin for Featherston Booktown. https://www.booktown.org.nz/