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On this rare sunny morning in Tāmaki, Jenna visited the studio to talk about the 2023 Booker longlisted, In Ascension. A book that hits the depths of the sea and stretches into the wider universe, this is a book that explores the connection between science, humans and the environment.
For fans of Richard Powers!
Listen to Jenna’s chat with Rachel and Stella below.
Suri was in the studio this morning to talk about the coming-of-age tale, The Gospel of Orla, written by Northern Irish poet Eoghan Walls. Young Orla travels on her bike from England to Ireland to seek her Mother’s gravesite and meets a mysterious man named Jesus along the way.
Fable-like, filled with magic realism and reminiscent of the Booker longlisted, Treacle Walker, Suri recommends this strongly.
Hollie spoke to Margaret Meyer about her debut novel The Witching Tide. An immersive literary debut inspired by historical events—a deadly witch hunt in 17th-century England—that claimed many innocent lives.
Where did the idea for The Witching Tide come from?
The idea grew from a visit to a local museum in Aldeburgh, a picturesque seaside town in Suffolk. I already knew of the 1645‒7 East Anglian witch-hunt, but in the museum, I discovered that self-styled witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins had visited the town in winter 1646 to purge it of its witches. As a result, seven innocent women were hanged. Later, when I started my research, I was deeply saddened to find that only two of the seven accused women were named in the historical record. The loss of their lives was bad enough, but it seemed to me that their namelessness effectively obliterated them from history. So, I resolved to write something to commemorate them.
What research was involved in the writing of the book?
A lot! I started by reading around UK witch-hunting and of course this particular hunt, which was England’s deadliest, in some detail. I did some primary research, looking at 17th -century records, although lockdown brought this to a halt. The rest of my research I had to do through secondary sources and online. Because the landscape is important in the book – almost a character in its own right – I read widely about the history of the Suffolk and Norfolk coast, as well as its flora and fauna. My main character, Martha, is a midwife and ‘herb woman’, so it was necessary, and also a great pleasure, to read about the different plants in Martha’s physick garden and how they would have been used. For this part of the research, I turned to wonderful source, The Midwives Book, published in 1671 by a midwife, Jane Sharp. Her book gives such an insight into women’s lives at that time. Its pages contain a wealth of information about plants and humoral medicine. I grew to absolutely love this book and eventually bought my own copy.
Why do you think people are so fascinated by witches?
Over the last few years there’s been noticeable momentum towards writing women back into ‘the narrative’, whether historical or mythological. I’m thinking, for example, of Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls or Naomi Wood’s Mrs Hemingway. Both books are engaged with rounding out the record by prioritising women’s experiences and perspectives. Witches and the hunting of them are rich seams to mine. The witch is one of those archetypes that simply won’t lie down. In our psyches and our cultures she occupies a unique position: on the one hand relegated to the margin, yet still able to exert influence. In past times the figure of the witch has been an affront to patriarchal norms, an epitome of subversion. In more recent depictions it’s her attributes that are explored ‒ her disruptive capacities, her different kinds of power.
Do you have a favourite witch in pop culture and why?
I don’t have a favourite, but a fantasy project of mine would be to somehow interview famous witches from history and mythology. I’d love to talk to the Witch of Endor, Circe, some of the African witch-deities and Macbeth’s three witch sisters, to find out their back stories as well as what they’re like as people.
What is your writing routine?
I aim to write for up to 4 hours each day, preferably in the morning, but I don’t really mind the time of day. Then I’ll do another 1‒2 hours of research (my next novel is also historical fiction), admin or responding to publicity enquiries. Around this I fit in walking my dog, Polly the standard poodle, as well as workouts in the gym.
What’s a book you always recommended to people?
Hilary Mantel’s Beyond Black, about a touring psychic medium and her assistant. It’s less well known than some of Mantel’s other novels but is arguably her wittiest. I read it every year.
What is your favourite snack to enjoy while writing?
Great question! I do like a good muffin and most weeks will make a batch. The family favourite is courgette and banana. I now double the recipe because – unless I manage to hide some of them in the freezer – they disappear very fast.
Hollie spoke to award winning author Catherine Chidgey about her latest novel ‘Pet’. When a charismatic new teacher arrives, everyone longs to be her pet. A gripping story of deception and guilt, set in a Catholic school during the 1980s.
How did you celebrate your recent win at the 2023 Ockham Book Awards?
I was quite preoccupied with trying to stop my 7-year-old daughter from barging into frame on the TV interviews! After that I had a lovely conversation with Acorn Foundation people about Jann Medlicott and her incredible legacy. Then I tucked my two Acorns up in bed for the night at Sky City.
What are some of your favorite writers or books?
Kate Atkinson, Maggie O’Farrell, Bernardine Evaristo, Kevin Barry, Patricia Grace, Peter Carey, Janet Frame, Edna O’Brien.
Where did the idea for Pet come from?
There was a very glamorous, charismatic teacher at my primary school, briefly, who played favourites. She invited select children to do errands for her, or to come to her house to make fudge and listen to records…and she ostracised those she deemed unworthy. She’s stayed with me for decades.
Were you a teacher’s pet?
I was! I still have the framed prayer my Primer One teacher gave me for helping after school.
Why is morning the best time for you to write?
Because I’m still in a half-dream state, when I can access my unconscious more easily – and that seems to be where the writing comes from. (Also because I have a full-time day job!)
What is your favorite snack to enjoy while writing?
I have an outrageously restricted diet due to extreme allergies, so I’ll have to go with the bad reviews of the books of my enemies.
What is one thing you would like readers to take away from Pet?
Never, ever take your Smurf collection to school.
Jenna called in from a bustling Mt. Eden Village this morning to chat about the winners from the NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults. Listen to her chat with Rachel below.
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Hollie spoke to author Emily Perkins about her latest novel Lioness.
What are you currently reading?
Ephemeron, poetry by Fiona Benson – her precision and heat give me goosebumps. And The Inseparables, a posthumously published novel by Simone de Beauvoir. I love her mind, and I love a short book.
Tell us the process of choosing the cover, as it relates closely to a scene in the book.
Greg Heinimann, the brilliant designer at Bloomsbury, came up with the image – it felt instantly right, for the sense it conveys of a woman who seems poised but is on fire from the inside.
What was your thought about setting the book in New Zealand, as opposed to somewhere else?
I wanted to look at class privilege in New Zealand, and to write about rich people without getting into the limitless level of wealth that might be found in a bigger country. And I really loved writing the different locations.
Have you ever thought about DJing a Lioness themed party?
Excellent idea! I did have a vibes playlist as I was drafting, but not all of it is danceable – I’d have to do a new one to properly create a Zone.
You’ve said there were many drafts of Lioness and that you started writing it in 2015. What was it that made you want to keep returning to the story?
It kept feeling relevant, and I never got tired of thinking about it, or thinking through it: the novel is partly about change, and I wanted to see if writing it would change me too.
What author or book is a recent discovery for you?
I was gripped by the sombre, ominous mood conjured up by Katie Kitamura in her novel Intimacies, and can’t wait to read her other work.
What is your favorite snack to enjoy while writing?
Almonds and apples and black coffee – if work’s going well the food disappears from the plate without my noticing. If it’s not I can be found in front of the open fridge door, staring blankly.
One of Suri’s favourite books for 2023 (so far!) A found classic from the 80’s, this book that explores the life of a teenager and her love of books in the time of political change in the Philippines.
Sexy, clever and surprising, listen to Suri’s great review with Rachel below.
Hollie spoke to author Claire Baylis about her debut novel Dice. A compelling courtroom drama, Dice is an incredibly timely exploration of how sexual violence is viewed in our society.
Tell us about yourself.
I grew up in England, moved to Wellington and was a law lecturer for 12 years before we moved to Rotorua for 'just a couple of years'. Twenty years later I still live here with my partner and 18yo daughter - the youngest of my 3 children. I've wanted to write a book since I was 6, so Dice is the culmination of a 50 year intention.
Where did the idea for Dice come from?
Having been a mum of teenagers for the last 13 years, I'm aware of the issues they have to negotiate. At the same time, I was doing jury research, interviewing real jurors and analysing how they had made their decisions. I became fascinated by the courtroom process, the dynamics of the jury room and how some jurors were making false assumptions about what real sexual assaults would look like. It all felt like important material for a novel.
What research was involved in the writing of Dice?
Lots! Dice was part of my PhD in Creative Writing from the IIML, so I simultaneously wrote a non-fiction paper about jury decision-making in sexual violence trials. I read a lot of survivor memoirs and academic research as well as analysing all the court documents and juror transcripts from the NZ cases in the Trans-Tasman Jury Study. While the novel is fiction, this research definitely informed it.
What was the intention behind having the story told through the eyes of the different members of the jury?
Listening to real jurors' voices, I became very aware of how different people responded to the court process and how differently trials impacted people's lives. I wanted to portray the idea of the jury as a microcosm of society, and explore how the baggage we all bring - our life experiences and beliefs - might affect deliberations.
What is one thing you would like readers to take away from Dice?
Readers tell me how compelling they find Dice and I definitely wanted to write a story with a strong narrative drive, but I love it the most when people say they are left with so many questions - about the justice system, about consent, about social media misuse and how we change society. I would love it if book clubs, parents of teens, young people and readers generally leant in to those questions and continued to think and talk about them.
What do you think the biggest misconception is about being a juror?
Some people feel like jury service is a waste of their time - either because they don't think they can offer anything (which can be very untrue, like Chantae in Dice) or because they think they are too busy. Jury service can be a profound experience and most people do approach it with a great deal of care and commitment.
What is your favourite snack to enjoy while writing?
If I'm in the flow I get hyper-focused and forget to eat, but when it's tricky, popping through to the kitchen for whatever is on hand is definitely one of my favourite distractions - nuts, mandarins, hummus, even chocolate drops supposedly bought for baking!
What is your desert island book?
AGGGH so hard to choose ONE - do I go for an early influencers like Pat Barker, Michael Ondaatje, Kirsty Gunn, John Berger, Christos Tsiolkas or a book that would keep me thinking about creativity like Charlotte Wood's The Luminous Solution, or poetry by Anahera Gildea, Tusiata Avia or Claudine Rankine, or books I desperately want to reread (but there are always too many amazing new books) like My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout and Intimacies by Katie Kitamura? (See how I totally avoided the question there?)
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Jenna called into the studio today to review the brand new novel by award-winning, Pip Adam - one the most inventive and exciting writers in Aotearoa.
In Audition, we meet three giants on spaceship. From here, the least you know about this book, the better. However, Adam stays true to form by pushing the boundaries of her narrative worlds to bring a strong social message to readers.
Listen to Jenna & Rachel chat below!
This morning, Suri reviewed the highly anticipated novel by Lorrie Moore. I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home is a tender and playful little novel about the hauntings of ghosts of the past - imaginary and literal.
Exploring the philosophies of love and joy and how people cope with grief, this is strange, clever and
highly recommended.
Listen to Suri’s review with Annabel below.
“I stood on the most God-forsaken patch of earth I hope ever exists and I thought: I wonder how Elly is.”
Alice Winn’s In Memoriam demonstrates both the despair of war and the distraction of love as we meet two young men in love, Ellwood and Gaunt as they leave their boarding school to sit at the front lines of World War I.
Listen to Jenna’s review with Kathryn below.
Tama leaves behind his life in Wellington, of Te Ao Pākeha to head home to Waituhi after the sudden death of his father. As the oldest son, it’s expected that he will return to take over the family farm.
Tangi was the winner of the 1973 New Zealand Book Awards and for its 50 year anniversary, this new edition
has been re-edited to celebrate. This piece by Emma Hislop (Kāi Tahu) explains more about Witi’s process of rewriting.
This incredibly moving novel has more than stood the test of time and is the perfect read for Matariki.
Suri reviews the new novel from Brandon Taylor, who was shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize for his novel Real Life.
A fun take on a campus novel, that explores class, sex, race and the moralities of fiction.
Want to know more? Listen to Suri’s review with Rachel below.
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Big Swiss has quickly become a staff favourite at Time Out, nicely fitting alongside titles such as My Year of Rest and Relaxation and The First Bad Man.
Greta transcribes the therapy sessions of sex coach, Om, and becomes enamoured with a patient whom she calls Big Swiss. When she hears Big Swiss’ voice in the dog park, she introduces herself as Rebekah - leading to a very intense infatuation between the two.
Told with the darkest of humour - Big Swiss explores moral boundaries, trauma relationships.
A camp, satirical page-tuner that is the perfect post-exam read. Yellowface is a book about lies and identity, capturing the conversation of own voices and the sometimes brutal publishing machine.
Listen to Suri’s review with Rachel below.
Catherine Chidgey is back (already!) with her new novel, Pet. Brimming with 80’s nostalgia, questionable characters and an unpredictable ending, Chidgey has stayed on track after her recent win at the Ockham NZ Book Awards.
Listen to Jenna’s review with Rachel and Stella, with some bonus knitted jersey chat.
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TOP 5 BOOKS
KID'S BOOKS
