Editorial: Hawke's Bay has many talented authors

Linda Hall, Assistant Editor, Hawke's Bay Today.

Hawke's Bay has some very talented authors and it's fantastic to see them recognised.

The latest to receive accolades is Gareth Ward for his book The Traitor and the Thief which was recently announced as a Storylines Notable Book 2018, and on Saturday won a Sir Julius Vogel award for Best Youth Fiction, with Mr Ward recognised with a Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best New Talent.

Well done Mr Ward. I've read this book and it is certainly worthy of its awards. The steampunk adventure is aimed at 10 to 15-year-olds. It's books like this that keep children going back for more.

In this day and age of screens for just about everything we do it's great to see the written book seems to be holding its own.

I'm not surprised really — you just can't beat the experience of opening a new book, inhaling that unique smell, diving in for an adventure, turning pages and sliding in a bookmark.

You certainly don't get that from any reading device.

There's a saying that everyone has a book in them and that may be true but it takes dedication and skill to actually get the story on to paper in a fashion that draws people to it.

Of course Mr Ward is not the first Bay author to win an award and it's a sure bet he won't be the last. There are many more — too many for me to list.

To encourage these authors to keep doing what they do best we should support them as much as possible.

Next time you buy a book, perhaps pick a local author.