We are asking quick questions of writers and thinkers coming to the WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival on from 24 to 28 August.
Ted Dawe's Thunder Road was followed by Into the River, which won the 2013 Book of the Year at the NZ Post Children's Book Awards. There was controversy later when the book was classified. His latest book is Into the World.
What are you looking forward to doing in Christchurch?
I am looking forward to meeting some Christchurch people. They have a different outlook on this compared to Aucklanders. If I get any spare time I will probably go for a stroll around the inner city, I lived in Salisbury Street many years ago.
What do you think about libraries?
Libraries are proving to be the most dynamic cultural edifices in a city. It used to be universities, theatres and galleries but these have all been torn apart by corporate culture and are sad shadows of their former selves. Libraries are egalitarian storehouses of incomparable wealth defended by staunch cultural warriors. Kia kaha!
What would be your "desert island book"?
The Great Gatsby
. That book is a universe in a grain of sand. Perfect, mysterious, universal and particular.
Share a surprising fact about yourself.
I believe that the narrative is the framing principle of the universe. It is the core aesthetic that underpins everything that is or ever was.
Ted Dawe appears in:
No Sex Please, We’re Teenagers, Fri 26 Aug, 5.15pm
Teens in Peril, Sat 27 Aug, 11am
More
- Find works by Ted Dawe in our collection
- Our page on WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival 2016
- More WORD Christchurch Quick Questions
- Read Katherine's blog post: Beautiful but doomed: Ted Dawe’s Devon Santos
- Read our 2010 interview with Ted Dawe
- Short story My dog ... your dog
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