Review: Auckland Writers & Readers Festival, day two

Fatima Bhutto. Photo / Supplied

Saturday marked day two proper of the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival, and as the sun was shining outside, the Aotea Centre was a-buzz on all three levels housing the festival sessions.

You obviously can't be at three simultaneous sessions at once, so it was pleasing to see audiences were eschewing some of the big-ticket international speakers in favour of smaller local events, such
Sarah-Kate Lynch, Frances Walsh, Carl Nixon and Sarah Quigley.

Fatima Bhutto, niece of Benazir and daughter of Murtaza Bhutto, an MP
assassinated by police when she was 14, attracted a large crowd,
occupying the lower and an upper level of the ASB Theatre.

Hosted by University of Auckland international law lecturer Treasa Dunworth, Bhutto, who is just 28, spoke about events covered in her latest book, Songs of Blood and Sword, about the Bhutto dynasty
which seems as soaked in violence and treachery as it is in politics.

Bhutto's grandfather, leader of his country, was "put to death" - a phrase she used frequently in reference to Pakistan's justice system, an oxymoron if ever you heard one - by the military and his son,
Fatima's father, swore revenge.

She spoke about how the Bhuttos started out "very leftist then became
almost Mafia-like". She never met her grandfather but read from a passage in the book about the site of the jail where he was executed,
now a shopping mall.

Her father, who she spoke of as a loving, caring man, was killed 15 years ago.

"I think the current president killed my father."

She has never been able to visit the site of his grave alone: it is always crowded with mourners and tourists.

She described Pakistan as "magnificently corrupt", propped up by US aid "with a list of conditions that is humiliating".

There was much to learn from this session, including why she is not afraid to speak out, why she will never enter parliamentary politics and why wheat prices in Pakistan are the highest in the world - the people in government are the wheat growers.

The ASB Theatre was packed out for the Michael King Memorial Lecture by American science journalist Naomi Oreskes talking about her book, The Merchants of Doubt.

Using power point displays, Oreskes briskly introduced us to a group
of scientists employed by tobacco companies, think tanks and fossil fuel industries (coal and oil) to cast doubt over the science of "human-caused climate change".

The research has been going on for decades, with warnings mounting about CO2 emissions from scientists through the 20th century.

But from about the mid-80s, Oreskes pointed out, a group of rocket
scientists who had supported Star Wars and the fight against
communism - it sounds ludicrous, doesn't it? - found a new enemy when
the Cold War ended: environmental "extremists".

But why?

Because of a belief in free market fundamentalism, and a fear that regulations restricting, say, the sale of tobacco products would
eventually erode all freedoms.

The debate was never about the science but it was about governance,
said Oreskes, before adding that the energy sector is not a free
market. Oil, tobacco, mining products and chemical industries are
not free. They are rich. So who and what is paying the price?

It was a valuable, informative, well-delivered lecture, even if
Oreskes and her introducer, New York Times science editor Barbara Strauch kept referring to Michael King as "Sir Michael".

But after all that information, it was pleasant to relax downstairs in the company of Douglas Lloyd Jenkins, Lucy Hammonds and Claire
Regnault, writers of The Dress Circle, a history of New Zealand fashion since the 1940s.

With the aid of slides from the book, each writer spoke for about 15
minutes about their "eras".

Lloyd Jenkins had some treasures from Auckland from the 40s and 50s, when some fashion shops were so high-end you weren't allowed to browse. You had to choose clothes worn by a model.

Who knew there was a Vogue New Zealand from 1957-68? Regnault showed us some covers - very stylish - and photo shoots in which garments were flown to England as part of a trade link deal. We moved on to the 80s and the "streety" Playdate with its grainy photography and homage to boutique culture, including shops like His Lordship (hilarious photos) and the launch of Patrick Steele with his grand party at Auckland Museum. Shocking, apparently.

Hammonds' territory was the 70s and designers such as Vinka - the
crowd shrieked with laughter at the pictures - and Michael Mattar, who was based in Taumarunui.

The book, and the panel, was for people who love clothes, not fashionistas, explained Lloyd Jenkins. Think about it.