Chris Cleave to headline National Writers Forum

Chris Cleave to headline National Writers Forum: early bird tickets on sale now

Chris Cleave, internationally acclaimed author of Everyone Brave is Forgiven, Incendiaryand The Other Hand (a.k.a. Little Bee, number one on The New York Times Best Seller list) is headlining the first ever National Writers Forum, to be held at the University of Auckland 17-18 September.

‘Chris is a brilliant writer who is willing to share his talent and experience in an NWF masterclass,’ says Jackie Dennis, Chief Executive Officer of New Zealand Society of Authors. ‘He’s a true international star telling stories that matter’.

Cleave will also join a panel session with writers Patricia Grace and Stephen Daisley where they will reveal advice they wish they’d been given at certain times in their writing lives.

Also joining the line-up are Toby Morris and comic artist Sarah Laing – ‘two of the most exciting writers around – incredibly insightful, versatile, funny, and talented,’ says Programme Manager Claire Mabey. ‘Their masterclass, “The Personal is Political”, will be inspiring for all writers, as well as for comic artists and graphic novelists.’

Other featured New Zealand authors include Ben Sanders, Greg McGee and Catherine Robertson appearing together to discuss and instruct on plot, structure and pace. Fantasy writer Helen Lowe will lead a masterclass on building worlds, and Anna Mackenzie – a celebrated writer of speculative and historic novels – will run a workshop called “Turning Fact into Fiction”.

Michael Wolfe, executive director of Authors Alliance and a copyright attorney, is travelling from San Francisco to participate in a panel on essential knowledge for writers – copyright and contracts.

In a session called "Live Live Editing", delegates can enter the draw for their own work to be edited live by a panel of sharp literary minds. As well as showcasing the importance of editing, this panel, Mabey says, will offer ‘a meaningful and entertaining format for anyone seeking insights into how other writers think about sentence structure’.

“The Perfect Pitch” session will feature a range of editors and publishers who are also participants in the Make the Perfect Pitch competition. Winners of the competition will get a one-on-one session with these industry experts. This includes Harriet Allan (Penguin Random House), Kevin Chapman (Upstart Press), Duncan Greive (The Spinoff), and Melanie Laville-Smith (Allen & Unwin).

Tickets sales opened today and there is a student price and an early bird option. Go to nationalwritersforum.org.nz/tickets and iTicket for further information and to purchase. Some of the sessions will have limited numbers on a first-come, first served basis so writers are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment.

The National Writers Forum would like to thank our supporters who have made the Forum possible: Creative New Zealand, Copyright Licensing NZ Cultural Fund, University of Auckland, South Pacific Pictures, and New Zealand Society of Authors.

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