Growing up in Wanganui, Tim Wilson longed to leave.
Now the writer and journalist is returning as part of the Whanganui Literary Festival to share tales of his life as a writer and journalist in Auckland and the United States.
Wilson moved to Wanganui when he was about 12, going to Keith St School, Wanganui Intermediate and Wanganui High School.
"I used to ride no-hands down Glasgow St," he said.
But aside from the library and art gallery, he was "colossally bored" in Wanganui.
"I suppose because I was a teenager I knew there was another life out there. I do remember being bored."
But he doesn't hold that against the city.
"Teenagers are supposed to be bored. If you're not bored as a teenager then there's nothing to look forward to."
Wilson grew up with and interest in writing and later studied English at university.
"My father was a bookish guy," Wilson said. "We talked about books, I read a lot when I was growing up."
It wasn't until after university that he got into journalism.
Wilson was the co-winner of a Metro writing competition. He wrote about being a taxi driver, which he did for a period, and that piece helped him get his first journalism job at North and South.
"That was sort of the heyday of magazines," Wilson said.
He headed to New York with an eye on the New Yorker, which he considered the best magazine in the world. "I didn't understand how competitive those gigs were."
While over there, he ended up being TVNZ's US correspondent; a role held for close to a decade. In that time he covered events such as Hurricane Katrina, Barack Obama taking the White House and the 2008 global financial crisis. But he was either going to become a New Yorker or return home.
"It's a demanding job. The phone's always beside you, you can't really plan anything."
Back in New Zealand, he juggles TV and radio work with writing. He had success with his second novel News Pigs last year and has another planned for release later this year.
Tim Wilson is speaking at 10am on September 20 at the War Memorial Hall concert chamber. The Whanganui Literary Festival runs from September 12-20, info at www.writersfest.co.nz.