Writers gain national and regional prominence
Mark Jones and Tui de Roy
Does Golden Bay harbour an unusual proportion of literary talent among its population? Perhaps. Three Golden Bay writers of varying backgrounds have recently received national and regional recognition for their achievements.
Botanist Philip Simpson
Golden Bay botanist Philip Simpson has been working from his Pohara home on a follow-up to his acclaimed books on New Zealand native trees. During the past 10 years, he has become one of New Zealand’s most respected authors for his work on the cabbage tree, Dancing Leaves, as well as the pohutukawa and rata in New Zealand’s Iron-Hearted Trees. He has turned his attention to telling the story of the totara, and he can now dedicate himself full time to the project following a $10,000 grant from the Friends of the Turnbull Library, and a Creative New Zealand $100,000 grant as the recipient of the Michael King Writers’ Fellowship.
Philip’s book aims to cover the totara’s history, decline and survival, and to fill the gaps in factual knowledge, including the relevant science and the tree’s significance in Maori culture. He is gathering stories on how it has been used and why and where it is growing today, and hopes to foster an environment where a sustainable future for totara is a reality.
Philip is keen to hear from people who have particular knowledge of or stories about the totara. He can be contacted at <philipsimpson@xtra.co.nz> or on 525 6223.
Photographer Tui de Roy
and writer Mark Jones
Two hundred books were submitted for the Montana Book Awards this year, and world-renowned wildlife photographer Tui de Roy and writer Mark Jones, based at Burnside Road, are among the three finalists in the environment category. Their latest publication, Albatross: Their World, Their Ways, features photographs, up-to-date research by leading international experts, and a natural history of the magnificent seabirds.
“We’re really delighted that it’s been chosen as a finalist in the environment category,” said Mark Jones. “We’re delighted not just for the recognition and success of our book, which took a full five years to produce, but also because it helps bring such a magnificent group of charismatic seabirds into the limelight.
“There have been some heartening advances in albatross conservation, but these birds need all the publicity they can get if people are to care enough to stop driving them and their habitats further towards points of no return.”
A previous publication, New Zealand: A Natural World Revealed, was shortlisted for the awards in 2007. Mark and Tui’s other work has appeared worldwide in wildlife magazines and they have written books on the Galapagos Islands and the Andes.
Freelance writer Gerard Hindmarsh
Freelance writer and GB Weekly reporter Gerard Hindmarsh has left his Tukurua home to spend June in Nelson because he is this year’s Nelson Writer In Residence. The position is decided by the Top of the South branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors.
Says Gerard: “Having the space to just write has been incredible; some days I tap away all day and into the night. You can get a good flow going. Having my publisher close by to sound things off as I go has been a bonus also.”
He is working for up to 13 hours a day on his latest projects: Kahurangi Calling, a modern take on the northwest Nelson wilderness; a historical work about Stewart Island; and the beginning of a novel about the “ripoff of cultural heritage in the Pacific”. He is also running a number of writing workshops during the residency.
The inspiration for the novel arose out of Gerard’s work in the Pacific with Unesco and for the cultural office in Apia, Samoa. The theft of cultural items and spiritual artefacts was the third-biggest illicit trade in the world, he said, after drug and weapons trafficking, and the Pacific was the latest place in the world to experience the problem.
Gerard has published widely. His recent books include Angelina - From Stromboli to D’Urville Island: A Family’s Story (2004) and Swamp Fever - A Golden Bay Memoir (2006) both published by Craig Potton Publishing in Nelson.
Ina Holst
