Introducing Fifi Colston

Graduating in Wellington with a Diploma of Visual Communications Design, Fifi freelances with fingers in many creative pies. She is a published junior fiction novelist, children’s book illustrator of more than 30 titles and was a long standing television presenter of arts and crafts on firstly TVNZ’s ‘What Now’ and then ‘The Good Morning Show’. Fifi is a veteran of Wearable Arts; a finalist and award winner over 20 years with 22 entries in show. She has also worked with Weta Workshop, 3 Foot 7 Productions, Pukeko Pictures and The Production Shed in the New Zealand TV and film industry as a costumier, puppet maker and illustrator. When she has a moment, Fifi visits schools and community groups, inspires budding artists and writers and runs workshops in creative process.

All the answers relate to The Red Poppy

My husband’s grandfather Rothwell, wrote postcards to his fiancé Hilda, from 1914-1918. Particularly poignant were two from France; they said simply “Am O.K” and “Keep smiling!” I was in the process of scanning and blogging these cards for the family when I read David’s story.  Jim’s letter home never mentioning the horrors of the trenches struck an immediate chord with me; those cheerful words from a young man, disguising the reality of his situation. Rothwell did come home from France to be a husband and father, but was far from ‘o.k’; dying just a few short years later from the cruel ravages of his war experience. Illustrating this book was a journey through his time for me. I visited the Army Museum in Waiouru (a must see- really great!) studied WW1 uniforms up close (collected by passionate people), grew red poppies, (harder than you'd think) photographed mud (outside our house) and rubbed chalk pastel until my fingers were raw. I learned much about pastel illustration technique, but more about the horror and sadness of war. 

Introducing Anna Mackenzie

Anna Mackenzie lives on a farm in Hawke’s Bay, NZ, where she writes contemporary, speculative and historic fiction. Her nine titles have netted her seven Notable Book Awards, an NZ Post Honour Award, Sir Julius Vogel Award and other accolades. She wrote her first book when she was seven – and is very glad her mother kept it!

Anna says:

“My interest in WWI is based in family stories. I wanted to properly understand my grandfather’s and other family members’ experiences.

“A real high point of writing Evie’s War was having a writing residency in Belgium, which allowed me to thoroughly immerse myself in WWI history. I could walk battlefields, seek out buildings where hospitals had been based, study landscapes, weather, the day-to-day things our servicemen and women would have experienced. And of course, I wrote!

“Sometimes the research made me cry: standing at my great-uncle’s grave, listening to ‘The Last Post’ played beneath the Menin Gate in Ieper, walking around trenches and cemeteries – there was so much suffering and waste. It’s impossible not to feel saddened by it. But even during the very worst of it, our capacity for love and friendship – our humanity – shines through.

“I was surprised by how very real, and alive, those young men and women felt – and continue to feel – to me, and by how fascinated I’ve become by war and its aftermath. WWI isn’t yet ready to let me go.”

In addition to writing novels Mackenzie edits magazines, teaches creative writing, mentors beginning writers and travels ‘whenever it fits in’. She is Vice-President of the New Zealand Society of Authors.

Titles: High Tide (2003), Out on the Edge (2005), Shadow of the Mountain (2008); Sea-wreck Trilogy – The Sea-wreck Stranger (2007), Ebony Hill (2010), Finder’s Shore (2011); Elgard series – Cattra’s Legacy (2012), Donnel’s Promise (2013); WWI – Evie’s War (2015).

• WEBSITE: www.annamackenzieauthor.com
• FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/annamackenzie.nz.author

Introducing Philippa Werry

I was born in Christchurch and grew up in Wellington, Auckland and New Plymouth. As a child, I wrote stories and poems for the Children’s Page of the Evening Post newspaper. Checking on a Saturday night to see if any of my stories had been published was an established part of my childhood. The rest of the family used to check too, and I would get phone calls from my dear great-aunts if anything was in there. I still have the book that I pasted all my stories into, and I often take it along when I do school visits. 

Another big influence was Ida Gaskin, my wonderful English teacher at New Plymouth Girls’ High School. Ida treated me as a writer. She died in January 2016, aged 96.

After high school and university came overseas travel, an MA in English Literature, marriage, more study (library diploma) and more travel, including long overland trips through Asia and Europe. All this time I was writing letters and travel journals, but it wasn’t until I was at home with small children that I started to write again seriously. I read a newspaper article about the School Journal and thought that might be something I could do in the small pockets of time I had available.

My first stories, poems and plays were published in the School Journal in the 1990s. Later I became interested in non-fiction and covered many different topics for educational publishers. Scholastic has published five of my children’s novels, including Enemy at the gate, shortlisted for the 2009 NZ Post children’s book awards. New Holland has published three non-fiction titles and a picture book, Best mates, illustrated by Bob Kerr. Other work (both plays and short stories) has been published in anthologies.

In recent years, my interest in history has translated into writing historical fiction and non-fiction, with an emphasis (partly because of family history) on war-related stories. Anzac Day: the New Zealand story was shortlisted in the 2014 NZ Post children’s book awards, and Waitangi Day was shortlisted in the children’s choice section in 2015.   

Interview questions:

Positive (happy) you discovered while writing/illustrating the book.

One positive experience I had was getting in contact with lots of people all around the world who helped with my research or let me use their photos. I also found it very positive to be writing and thinking a lot about peace.

Sad (tragic) you discovered while writing/illustrating the book.
When researching by reading old diaries and letters, you come across many sad entries.  One of the most poignant that found its way into the book is the diary entry by Australian WW1 nurse Elsie Tranter, written on Armistice Day. Many soldiers had mixed feelings about celebrating on that day; of course they were relieved that the war was over but their reactions were often quiet and muted.  

But the nurses only got a few hours off to celebrate, if they were lucky. Men didn't stop dying just because the Armistice had been announced, and the nurses still had sick and wounded patients to look after.

Interesting (that surprised you) you discovered while writing/illustrating the book.

I was surprised and pleased that there are so many peace memorials in New Zealand. We often focus on the war memorials but actually there are a lot that commemorate peace, and they come in all sorts of different and interesting forms, such as peace poles, flames, bells, walks, plaques and buildings.  

Introducing Melinda Szymanik

Melinda Szymanik has been a writer of children's fiction across a wide range of ages for over fifteen years with many publications to her name. Her first novel was completed during an NZSA mentorship and she is now herself a mentor for this programme. Her picture book The Were-Nana (Scholastic, 2008), illustrated by Sarah Anderson, won Children’s Choice at the 2009 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards, and she also won Librarian's Choice at the 2014 LIANZA Awards for her junior novel A Winter's Day in 1939 (Scholastic, 2013).

 

Recipient of the University of Otago, College of Education, Creative New Zealand Children's Writer's Residency in 2014, Melinda was also granted a University of Otago Wallace Residency at the Pah Homestead in 2015. She recently completed a Diploma in Children's Literature from the University of Canterbury (2015), following on from a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English Literature awarded in 2004.

Melinda has been on the NZSA's Youth Mentorship Selection Panel twice, convening the panel in 2015. She blogs regularly on books and writing, runs writing workshops for children and adults, and regularly visits schools as part of the NZ Book Council's Writers in Schools Programme. Her latest picture book, Fuzzy Doodle, illustrated by Donovan Bixley will be published by Scholastic in June.

Interview questions:

Can you please tell us the positive, sad, and interesting things that occurred while you wrote the book. 
 

1). Something positive was learning so much more about my father’s childhood. I knew some of the major events but writing the book helped me join the dots between them and I felt closer than ever to my dad.

2). Something sad was knowing how bad conditions were and how much he had had to endure.

3). Something interesting? That so many Polish people were deported out of Poland by the USSR and became this incredible diaspora that even reached New Zealand.

 

Introducing Glyn Harper

Glyn Harper is Professor of War Studies at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand. He is Massey's Project Manager of the Centenary History of New Zealand and the First World War. A former teacher, he joined the Australian Army in 1988 and after eight years transferred to the New Zealand Army, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Glyn was the army's official historian for the deployment to East Timor and is the author of numerous history books for adults. His children's books include Le Quesnoy, Jim's Letters and Roly, the Anzac Donkey. In 2015 Glyn and illustrator Jenny Cooper won the Best Picture Book Award at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, as well as a Storylines Notable Picture Book Award, for Jim's Letters, a moving story about a correspondence between two brothers during the First World War. In 2016 Penguin Books NZ published 'Gladys goes to War'. It has been number one in the bestseller list since its release.

We asked Glyn to answer the following questions about his book 'Gladys goes to war'.

Something Positive (happy) you discovered while writing/illustrating the book.

I     I was excited to uncover Glady's story. Such an amazing woman deserved to have her story told.

 

Something Sad (tragic) you discovered while writing/illustrating the book.

      Gladys'  husband, William Henning died in September 1918. Her two brothers also died in the war; one just days before the end of the war. She also had a severe case of influenza which permanently damaged her lungs.

      Something Interesting (that surprised you) you discovered while writing/illustrating the book.

       I was surprised that Gladys achieved so much: working on cars and as a car sales rep, learning to fly, driving across Australia and as a member of the RSL.

Introducing Jennifer Beck

Jennifer Beck – Background

I grew up on a farm in North Auckland, as one of five children. We didn’t have many toys, which meant we had to use our imagination and make up ways of entertaining ourselves.  Both my parents loved books, and reading books was a favourite pastime.  We often played ‘word games’ around the kitchen table. Art was also important in our family, and we were encouraged to draw and paint. Later, as the parent of young children I was involved in Playcentre, and was influenced by several very creative friends.  I think these experiences helped me become a writer.

I trained as a teacher and later as an educational psychologist, and later combined writing books while working in these occupations. Although I’ve written many educational school readers, a love of art as well as writing has lead to my specialising in picture books, many of which have won awards.  These include five books which deal with war, a topic which I believe requires special sensitivity when written for children. As well as enjoying collaborating with skilled illustrators such as Robyn
Belton, Lindy Fisher and Fifi Colston, I have also illustrated one of my own books.  Although I have always valued the work of illustrators, the experience of illustrating a book myself was an extra reminder of how difficult and time-consuming this role can be!

I live on the outskirts of Auckland with my husband Peter, and enjoy family and community events, reading, watercolour painting and travel, particularly around New Zealand.

Interview Questions:  I asked Jennifer Beck if anything positive, sad or interesting happened while writing the two books. Jennifer answered:

Positive:  The Anzac Violin

For years Robyn Belton and I had talked about writing the story of Alexander Aitken. He was a Dunedin soldier who carried a violin ashore at Gallipoli, and at times managed to play it to his comrades during the campaign.  A very special experience for me was visiting Otago Boys’ High School in 2011 and being able to hold that same violin which is now a treasured memento on display at his old school.  Returning to Dunedin in 2015 as Children’s Writer in Residence at the University of Otago, with the opportunity to write the story, was a wonderful follow-up experience.  

Sad:  The Bantam and the Soldier

Robyn Belton and I wrote this picture book over twenty years ago, and it is great to have it still in print.  Although the story relates to many New Zealand families, it is also very personal for both of us, and I must confess that when reading it I get a bit emotional at times, just as I did when writing it.

Interesting:  

Research for these two books and other war stories has led to meeting many interesting people, travelling to places I would never have otherwise visited, and sometimes making surprise discoveries and links that have enhanced the original story.  Research may sound a bit dull, but it can lead to exciting discoveries such as seemingly astonishing coincidences.  

The 2016 What Lies Beneath Exhibition goes live!

The What Lies Beneath exhibition gets its first outing this Sunday at the Storylines Margaret Mahy Day. From Monday onwards it is at Auckland Library for the month of April and then it goes all around the country. Check out where and whose books are in the exhbition.

Confirmation of exhibitors

We're very excited to announce that we are organising another 'What Lies Beneath' exhibition at the National Library, 8 Stanley Street, Parnell in 2014.

The list of confirmed authors and illustrators so far are:

 

GENRES	Jan 20th – Feb 20th	Feb 20th – March 20th	March 20th – April 20th
Picture Book	Maria Gill & Bruce Potter The Last of Maui's Dolphin	Vasanti Unka The Boring Book	Nina Rycroft Good Dog Hank
Junior Fiction Jnr	Julie Scott The Chitten Adventures	Victoria Azaro The Saffron Series	Sally Sutton Diary of a ...
Young Adult	Lorraine Orman Touchstone	Cath Mayo The Bow	Leonie Agnew Conrad Cooper's Last Stand
Non-fiction	Heather Arnold How to draw NZ Native Birds	Brian Lovelock and Raymond Huber Flight of the Honey Bee	Sandra Morris A NZ Nature Journal
Poetry/Verse	Melinda Szymanik While you are sleeping	Chris Gurney Kiwi Corker Series	Elena de Roo Ophelia Wild series

You'll see drafts and storyboards, sketches and photographs, notebooks and artefacts - showing the planning, the inspiration and the end results behind their books.

Including the following books:  The Last of Maui's Dolphins, Good Dog Hank, A New Zealand Nature Journal, Conrad Cooper's Last Stand, The Saffron series, The Chitten Adventures, The Kiwi Corkers series, The Orphelia Wild series, While you are sleeping, Touchstone, and Murder at Mykenai series.

Please come back for more information ...