Speed date your favourite author

Have you ever wanted to get up close and personal with your best-loved author? Now you can at a special event to be held at the Gus Fisher Gallery at The University of Auckland, ahead of the New Zealand Post Book Awards.

BAM! – a celebration of books, art and music is an opportunity for the public to “speed date” their favourite Auckland University Press author. Join Karl Stead, Marti Friedlander, Greg O’Brien, Dave Veart, Fiona Farrell, Anne Salmond, Peter Simpson and Julia Gatley for this all-day book fair, featuring readings, book signings and plenty of opportunity for one-on-one. To set the mood there will also be performances from international jazz hero Roger Manins from The University of Auckland’s School of Music.

AUP Authors “speed date” sessions are:
10.30am Karl Stead
11.30am Marti Friedlander
12.30pm Greg O'Brien
1pm Dave Veart
1.30pm Fiona Farrell
2pm Anne Salmond
2.30pm Peter Simpson
3pm Julia Gatley

Start your Saturday with coffee and pastries followed by readings from poet Karl Stead at 10.30am, followed by a conversation between photographer Marti Friedlander and her husband Gerrard Friedlander and author Len Bell at 11.30am.

Greg O’Brien will read at 12.30pm. O’Brien’s book on the work of illustrator, Graham Percy is shortlisted in the Illustrated Non-Fiction category for the New Zealand Post Book Awards. In the afternoon, David Veart author of Digging Up the Past: Archaeology for the Young and Curious and First Catch Your Weka: A Story of New Zealand Cooking, will be available for a “speed date” at 1pm, followed at 1.30pm by a reading by Fiona Farrell, who is shortlisted in the General Non-Fiction category for The Broken Book, her book of essays and poems about the Christchurch earthquake.

At 2pm, it’s Dame Anne Salmond, whose book Bligh: William Bligh in the South Seas is also a General Non-Fiction finalist in this year’s book awards. At 2.30pm, Associate Professor Peter Simpson will appear, followed by architectural historian Dr Julia Gatley at 3pm.

Copies of the Auckland University Press publications by these writers will be available for signature and sale.

BAM! – a celebration of books, arts and music takes place on Saturday 28 July from 10am-4pm at the Gus Fisher Gallery, 74 Shortland Street, Auckland.

On Friday 27 July to celebrate National Poetry Day BAM! Also features The Divine Muses IX: a night of poetry readings featuring Riemke Ensing, Sue Fitchett, Bob Orr, John Pule, Harry Ricketts, and Siobhan Harvey. 6.30pm at the Gus Fisher Gallery.

For more details, visit www.gusfishergallery.auckland.ac.nz