James Norcliffe is a multi-award winning poet and novelist who lives on Banks Peninsula, Christchurch, New Zealand. His dry sense of humour and complete honesty about himself and the world makes for wonderful retelling of tales from his life.

In this episode we hear about his early childhood and first attempts at writing.

You can find out more about James at jamesnorcliffe.com

Canterbury Poets Collective https://www.facebook.com/cantypoet/

School for Young Writers https://www.schoolforyoungwriters.org

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In this episode we conclude our chat about Gavin's very clever picture book The House that Jack Built ,which deals withthe complexities of British Colonisation in New Zealand. We then move on to his new project on the New Zealand Wars; his wonderful autobiographical novel Teddy One-Eye; and we laugh about the difficulties of dealilng with Hollywood, script writing and agents.

You can find out more about Gavin at gavinbishop.com

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Having discovered his family heritage links him to prominent Maori women we discuss their interesting involvement in The New Zealand Wars, and their strong connections to the Anglican Church in New Zealand at the time.

We also hear about his hopes and disappointments of working with agents, the reprint of his book 'The House that Jack Built' which includes an inspired dust jacket - a must see for all! - and what Gavin now thinks is the most important thing to him when he writes his stories.

You can see an amazing photo of Irihapeti Te Paea at the National Library of New Zealand.

https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22891728?search%5Bi%5D%5Bname_authority_id%5D=-94018&search%5Bpath%5D=items

More information about Gavin Bishop can be found at his website gavinbishop.com

You can purchase and enquire about some of the books we discuss including 'Katarina' at Penquin Random House New Zealand https://www.penguin.co.nz/search?q=gavin+bishop

and 'The House that Jack Built' at Gecko Press at Gecko Press https://geckopress.com/?s=gavin+bishop

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Continuing my discussion with award winning children's book author and illustrator Gavin Bishop as we follow the hard work behind Mrs McGinty and the Bizarre Plant. Gavin also takes us on a journey of discovery as he unearths the story behind his Maori heritage and the fabulous family members he discovered.

You can find out more about Gavin at his website gavinbishop.com .

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If you haven't listened to parts 1 and 2 of Gavin's tale, and you're an author/illustrator or would like to be - I recommend you listen to those first.

In this episode we pick up where we left off last time and hear about how a simple question can change your life. We also hear the story of how difficult it was for Gavin to get his first book published, how determination and looking beyond the square and the faith of his first publisher at Oxford University Press was what got him on the shelves. We talk about his books 'Bidibidi' and 'Mrs McGinty and the Bizarre Plant'.

You can see Gavin reading Mrs McGinty and the Bizarre Plant at: https://youtu.be/xR3IXCwsFBE

Go to gavinbishop.com for more information about Gavin and his work.

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In this first part of New Zealand children's book illustrator and author Gavin Bishop's tale, we hear about his early childhood in Kingston and how he was inspired by the landscapes of a visiting sign-writer. Gavin reads from his autobiography 'Piano Rock', and shares some culinary tales.

Go to Gavin's website, gavinbishop.com for more information about his work.

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Continuing my casual chat with Christchurch author Kathleen Gallagher at her home tucked under the Cashmere Hill.

In this our final episode Kathleen's tale, she reads for us her poem 'Silencing the Hikoi 1998' and her four poems of a war time love story, 'Italy'.

Also we have another reading from her novel Inangahua Gold, read by Zara Ballara.

Her latest film Rohe Koreporepo is having a screening at Lumiere Cinema Christchurch on Sunday July 17 at 4pm.

Tickets can be purchased at: https://lumierecinemas.co.nz/movie/rohe-kreporepo--the-swamp-the-sacred-place

For more information about Kathleen's work, and to purchase her poetry, novels, plays or to stream her films, go to wickcandle.co.nz

Next episode we start to hear children's book illustrator and writer Gavin Bishop's tale. He provides great hints and tips for the would be writer/illustrator and also shares wonderful stories of childhood and his journey to become the acclaimed writer he is today.

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Continuing my casual chat with Christchurch based author Kathleen Gallagher in her home tucked under the Cashmere Hill. In parts 1 and 2 of the Author's Tale we chatted with Kathleen about her plays and films, here in part 3 we talk about her connection to the mountains and how her knowledge of her own history and heritage all come together in her latest novel Inangahua Gold.

Readings from Inangahua Gold are done by Zara Ballara and Drew Noble.

You can find out more about Kathleen's work and obtain copies of her books, plays and films from her website https://www.wickcandle.co.nz

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In our first episode we heard about Kathleen's childhood, ancestry and experience in play writing and working in theatre, and I highly recommend you listen to episode one first to give you the background of how Kathleen works.

In this episode we talk about Kathleen's films, radio plays and her connection to the land. We hear snippets from her film Tau Te Mauri, Breath of Peace - it was Kathleen's work on this film that earned her the Sonja Davies Peace Award in 2004, and we also hear from the film Earth Whisperer's, shot by acclaimed cameramen Alun Bolinger and Mike Single. Kathleen's latest film is Rohe Koreporepo: The Swamp the Sacred Place.

You can stream some of her movies from her website https://www.wickcandle.co.nz

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