A few of my favourite things at WORD:
-
Canadians. Who would win the nicest people in the world smack down? Us or them? I think them. I'm going to read every book Elizabeth Hay ever wrote. And I might start reading a poem a day at breakfast time just because she does. - Ted Dawe's shirt. Possibly Rata flowers and leaves, perhaps Pohutukawa. Either way very pleasing to look at.
- The 'question' at the No Sex Please We're Teenagers session that began "I've watched a lot of porno tapes..."
- David Levithan's inspirational Margaret Mahy Lecture. "We raise our voices, not shouting but singing".
- When writers I like like other writers I like. D
avid Levithan likes Francesca Lia Block. And Feed is his favourite Young Adult novel. - When writers I like dislike writers I dislike (even better). Paula Morris just couldn't get over kids reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven for school. I'm with you Paula; we're going to Hell in a hand-basket.
- Pondering on matters like why so many great writers are called Margaret: Atwood, Drabble, Laurence, Mahy,
- Watching Toby Manhire have the measure of Bromhead at peak "I'm so loveably irascible" schtick.
- Seeing Alex Casey who does The Real Housewives of Auckland power rankings for The Spinoff. A thrill. And good to resist the impulse to come on all fan-crone and tell her what a good writer she is.
- Adding lots more books to my For Later shelf. 1108 and counting.
My least favourite thing at WORD:
Those who cannot tell the difference between a question and a statement. You know who you are. Or perhaps you don't. Think about it people. Does the question take longer to ask than to answer? Then don't ask it.
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