Top writers’ evening to benefit tsunami relief effort

Eight top New Zealand writers will appear together at an 11 February event in Wellington to raise funds for the New Zealand Red Cross’s relief work in tsunami-affected areas of Asia.

Writers’ tsunami aid, a night of readings and music, will feature leading poets Kate Camp, Bill Manhire, Vivienne Plumb, Tusiata Avia, Vincent O’Sullivan, Hinemoana Baker and Emily Dobson, and writer/actor Jo Randerson.

Kim Hill will act as MC, and James Illingworth will add some stylish jazz piano to the mix, at Wellington’s Downstage Theatre on Friday 11 February from 7.30pm.

“Many New Zealanders have been deeply saddened by the devastation caused by the Boxing Day tsunami,” says organiser Caren Wilton. “Writers’ tsunami aid is a chance for the literary community to raise funds and contribute to the rebuilding effort which will continue for some time in affected countries.

“It’s also a rare opportunity to hear so many of our highly accomplished writers at the same event – it’ll be a night of lively, invigorating readings, accompanied by music and with the chance to have a glass of wine.”

All proceeds from the evening will go to the New Zealand Red Cross South Asia tsunami appeal.

Tickets will be available on the door for $25, cash or cheque only.

For more information, photos, or to interview the participants in Writers’ tsunami aid, contact Caren Wilton, email caren.wilton@paradise.net.nz.
Writers’ tsunami aid participants – biographical information Tusiata Avia’s collection of poetry, Wild Dogs Under my Skirt, was published by Victoria University Press in 2004, and she has performed her solo show of the same name around New Zealand. She is also the author of several children’s books.

Hinemoana Baker is a poet and musician. Her poetry collection matuhi | needle was published jointly by Victoria University Press and Viggo Mortensen’s US-based Perceval Press in 2004, and her CD puawai was shortlisted for Best Folk Album at the 2004 NZ Music Awards.

Kate Camp is a poet, essayist and reviewer, and is the voice of ‘Kate's Klassics,’ a monthly conversation on classic books with National Radio's Kim Hill. Her poetry collections are Unfamiliar Legends of the Stars (1998) and Realia (2000). In 2004 Kate was shortlisted for the Prize in Modern Letters.

Emily Dobson is a 2004 graduate of the MA in Creative Writing at Victoria University. The collection of poetry she worked on during the year – a box of bees – was awarded the Adam Prize for best folio.

Bill Manhire held the 2004 Meridian Energy Katherine Mansfield Fellowship in Menton, where he completed a new book of poems and an anthology about Antarctica, The Wide White Page. Bill was NZ’s inaugural Poet Laureate, and is Director of Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters.

Vincent O’Sullivan is a poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, critic and editor. He was the 2004 recipient of Creative New Zealand’s $100,000 Michael King Writers’ Fellowship. His latest collection of poetry is Nice Morning for it, Adam.

Vivienne Plumb is a poet, novelist and playwright. Her books include the novel Secret City (2003) and the newly-released poetry collection Nefarious: poems and parables (2004). In 2004 she held a writing residency on the University of Iowa's International Writing Programme.

Jo Randerson is an award-winning writer and theatre performer, and was the 2001 Burns Fellow at Otago University. Her collections of short stories are The Spit Children (2000) and The Keys to Hell (2004), which features illustrations by Oscar nominee Taika Waititi.

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