"Live simply that others may simply live".
Mahatma Gandhi
[From Mindfood magazine bookmark]
Weather today: Cloudy overcast, sun trying to shine through, cool, snow forecast for the Southern passes. Lawn very muddy from all the rain. Need to wear gumboots to get to the clothesline and the bird feeder in the apple tree. Lots of snowdrops out and earlicheer daffodils.
PICTON READERS’ AND
WRITERS’ FORUM - a great success
The inaugural
Writers’ and Readers’ Forum was held at Picton Little Theatre, Dublin Street,
Picton over the weekend of 4 – 6 July. Authors registered for this event
presented their work and discussed independent publishing opportunities in the
digital age. The forum was the brainchild of Peter Thomas, who was the chair of
the committee made up of Irene Thomas, Marie Higgs and Julie Kennedy.
Peter Thomas supplied
this report: “It would be an unusual person who could resist being inspired by
the writers who descended on Picton’s Little Theatre last weekend. The tone was
set by the Ukes of Marlborough who provided entertainment on the Friday evening
as the writers, mainly from the Top of the South, gathered for the event. Tears
and laughter erupted as writer after writer read from their work or explained
the secrets behind the motivation for their creations. But there was a more
serious reason for the gathering. The digital age is changing the face of
publishing for ever and is creating new opportunities for writers to distribute
their work worldwide in ways that could not be envisaged a few years ago. Sales
of paper and electronic books must have run into the hundreds as the writers,
who are often enveloped in a silent and solitary art form, exchanged ideas and
horizons.
“In the closing minutes of the forum a
resolution was unanimously passed to request Radio New Zealand to widen the
focus of its book reviews to include the majority of New Zealand literature
which is bypassing the old established publishing houses to embrace the new
digital era.”
