Exploring cod, salt and life in New York

Mark Kurlansky

The first writer to arrive at the Hilton for the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival is not wasting any time. Mark Kurlansky, famous for making cod (the fish) and salt (you sprinkle on your food) into best sellers, is taken with our autumn harbour fog.

It reminds him of New England where he was born. And yes, this author who illustrates his own books, opened the set of water colours he carries with him (along with the notepads and laptop) and painted it within hours of arriving.

Kurlansky, who started as a playwright, is a visual man. He sits in his black leather jacket, black polo underneath, grey curly hair and beard, looking a little like he's not been out of bed long, his green eyes sweeping for detail.

There's a sparrow trapped in the bar, a ferry that from his perspective nearly hit a charter yacht. Later he will go back to his room and "write up the day", including thoughts and descriptions, as he does almost every evening of his life.

The writing-down comes from when he was a journalist, writing for the Chicago Tribune. As he says, "Theatre training teaches you how to tell stories, how to create characters, how to set scenes.

"Journalism teaches you how to make your deadlines, how to find things out, how to get into places ... and how to tell when people are lying to you. They're tremendous skills. I'd recommend anyone wanting to write books to spend some time in theatre."

That training also made his transition from biography to fiction - which many find difficult - something of a cinch. The success of his debut novel, Boogaloo on 2nd Avenue which plants the reader square in 2nd Avenue New York, on the lower East Side of Manhattan where his grandmother grew up, owes much to the detail of the writing.

The small-time feuds between Jews and Germans, the smells, the music, bring it to life. This is one of his books, he says, that would make a good movie.

"It would have a great soundtrack."

And, I add, "great sex".

"And food," says the publicist, "and smells. That butter ... "

Kurlansky is pleased - not only that we've read the book, but also that we're left with lasting impressions. His sallow New York face pinks.

He did everything late in life. The career in journalism, always designed to be a stepping stone, lasted 15 years. He married Marian, a lawyer, seven years ago, when about 50. His daughter, Talia ("It means Dew in Hebrew") is five. Today they live in the Upper West side, he works in an office over the road, from 10am until 9-10 at night, unless he's "playing with the family".

And can you make a good living writing about cod, salt and the lower East Side? He ducks the question. "Cod had a very small advance, nobody expected it to do much. Then years later, a kid won a high school contest with an essay on why she liked my cod book. The prize she won was larger than my advance."


Mark Kurlansky

Tonight: 7.30pm
Saturday: 4.30pm
Sunday evening: May 22 at the Hilton Hotel.
Bookings Ticketek (09) 3075000


* The Herald is a gold sponsor of the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival.