Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louise Erdrich will be in Rotorua on Tuesday, May 19. Photo / Paul Emmel
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louise Erdrich features in this winter’s programme of author talks at the Rotorua Library.
Nine authors will be hosted across three events in May and June, exploring everything from crime writing to journalism, Native American literature and homegrown stories.
Rotorua Library said in a statement it had secured an exclusive Rotorua appearance from Erdrich, “one of America’s most celebrated literary voices”, in New Zealand for the Auckland Writers Festival.
She will discuss her life and work, including her National Book Critics Circle Award–winning debut Love Medicine, The Round House – winner of the National Book Award – and The Night Watchman, which received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2021.
Born to an Ojibwe mother and a German father, Erdrich has, through her writing, played a pivotal role in bringing Native American stories and the experiences of people of mixed heritage to the centre of American cultural and literary life, according to the statement.
Erdrich will speak at 7pm on Tuesday, May 19, with tickets $10.
The library said numbers were limited, so early booking was recommended.
The winter series opens with Murder in the Library, a collaboration between the Ngaio Marsh Awards and Rotorua Library next Wednesday, May 6, at 6pm.
The event will feature conversation with five North Island crime writers.
The discussion will be led by Claire Baylis, winner of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel, who will chat with fellow Rotorua author Zoe Rankin, Cambridge-based past Ngaio finalist Nikki Crutchley, and number one New Zealand bestselling crime-writing duo Gareth and Louise Ward, also known as the Bookshop Detectives.
The third event, Beyond the Headline: What happens when journalists write the whole story, will be held on June 20 at 2pm.
Baylis will again moderate the discussion with an expert panel of three top journalists, including investigative journalist Eugene Bingham, a recipient of multiple awards across print, television, digital and podcast platforms.
His book The Chief and the Empire, described as the story of Te Pahi, the Māori trailblazer betrayed by the Crown, was released this week.
The panel also features Suzanne McFadden, an award-winning sports journalist, founding editor of LockerRoom, 2021 Voyager NZ Sports Journalist of the Year, and made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in 2025. Her books include Striking Gold, about the New Zealand men’s hockey team winning Olympic gold, and Honey, about rugby player Honey Hireme-Smiler.
Joining them is Karen Holdom, a former journalist and award-winning fiction writer whose debut novel, The End and the Beginning, followed the completion of her master’s degree in creative writing at the University of Auckland.
Holdom and Bingham lived and worked in Rotorua as journalists in the 1990s, Holdom at the NZ Herald and Bingham at the Rotorua Daily Post.
Organised in collaboration with U3A Book Talk, the Beyond the Headline panel will explore what happens when journalists step beyond daily deadlines to tell deeper, longer-form stories, in books, investigations and creative non-fiction.
Rotorua Library director Julianne Wilkinson said she was excited to offer the community such a rich and exciting programme this winter.
“We’re incredibly proud to be bringing such a diverse and high-calibre line-up of authors to Rotorua.
“None of these events would be possible without the ongoing support of the Friends of Rotorua Library,” Wilkinson said.
“From internationally acclaimed writers to talented local authors, these talks give our community the opportunity to engage directly with writers whose work shapes how we understand the world and ourselves.”
Books will be available for purchase at each event.
Event summary:
Murder in the Library, May 6 at 6pm. Registration required, koha welcomed
Louise Erdrich – Land, Legacy and the Python’s Kiss, May 19 at 7pm. Tickets $10
Beyond the Headline: What happens when journalists write the whole story, June 20 at 2pm. Registration required, koha welcomed