By Michelle Goodman
A small group of book-loving volunteers can be proud of the successful inaugural Between the Lines Readers and Writers Festival they created in Central Hawke's Bay last weekend.
The festival, to celebrate the love of books and literacy, was also an opportunity to show off CHB to out-of-town visitors.
The festival kicked off with a youth-focused writing workshop supported by Creative Communities. Nearly 50 primary and college students from CHB were welcomed to the Waipawa Municipal Theatre with a mihi whakatau by students from Waipawa School. The workshop was led by inspirational youth author, storyteller and magician Gareth Ward.
Year 8 student Cassidy said: "I really enjoyed learning new ways to set out and plan my writing. Listening to a published author was fun and listening to how they go about their writing process was interesting. It was awesome that they liked my writing."
Pukehou School teacher Rachael Strong also attended the workshop, saying it was inspiring and informative.
"Gareth performed his magic throughout the day, inspiring the students as writers. Our three students that attended the workshop came away excited about their writing and how they can improve," she said.
For the official opening event of the festival, book lovers were welcomed to Langton House for an evening of 'Chewing the Cud' insight and discussion with author and writer Steve Braunias, hosted by Bill Ralston. Steve spoke about his life in the New Zealand media world, at the close of the evening commenting on the warmth and ambient IQ of the guests and congratulating festival organisers, encouraging them to continue to bring literary events to the area.
Organising committee member Anna Locker-Lampson explained that the festival was unique in that many of the events were hosted in local homesteads.
"We wanted to have a winter festival, and what could be nicer than sitting fireside in a charming room with interesting conversation and a glass of local wine," she said.
"We were so fortunate to have local families graciously open their homes for us to use and it created a very special and intimate atmosphere."
The following day was busy, with three events. The first, a poetry reading, was hosted at the textures gallery Tattertales. Guests from Waiheke Island, Auckland, Napier and Blenheim, as well as a fair few locals, were treated to readings from poets Tayi Tibble from Wellington and Marty Smith from Napier.
Guests then traipsed up the road to a wonderful laughter-filled Bubbles and Books event at Nola Café. Author Wendyl Nissen joined us from the Hokianga with tales from her days as a journalist and editor and introduced us to her newly published book The Natural Year [currently on the New Zealand top-seller list].
Friday evening saw guests being welcomed into the grand homestead Mountview, to hear Bob Kerridge and Dr Matt Hall speak of their passions; animal welfare and plant communication respectively. The evening was chaired by journalist and writer Paul Little who was able to lead a thought-provoking discussion with much audience participation. He also shared that Between the Lines was the first post-Covid literary festival event to be held worldwide.
Saturday delivered two events featuring Charity Norman in the ballroom of Ashcott Homestead. Charity told of her life, giving guests insights into how she researches and plans her books and forms her characters. She told of a recent interview with BBC 2 [UK] with 10 million listeners after her book was selected as a book club recommendation.
The festival closed on Sunday morning with a "Spotlight on CHB" event, featuring five local authors telling stories of their inspiration and journey into the world of writing and publishing.
After a hectic period of organising, booking and executing such a full-on and successful festival the organisers say they are content to curl up with a book for a month or two before considering their plans for 2021.