In From the Centre: A Writer's Life Patricia Grace takes us through her childhood, education, marriage and up to the present day, in this touching and self-deprecating story of her life – the life of a writer, of a Māori woman and of a teacher. It expresses the love for family and for ancestral land; shows the prejudices she's had to face and what made her stronger; and tracks her career as a writer.

We were thrilled to welcome back Patricia Grace to the Marlborough Book Festival in 2022 where she was in conversation with Paula Morris.

From cooking for Prime Ministers and dignitaries in Europe, to being chosen as personal chef for Maestro Luciano Pavarotti, having her own television show and long running radio career and, of course, her award-winning cookbooks, Julie Biuso’s life has been full of the joy of food and sharing it with others.

Listen to Julie in conversation with Charlotte Patterson about her illustrious and delicious career (make sure to eat first)!

Rebecca K Reilly (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Wai) is the author of the smart and funny debut novel Greta & Valdin, which has topped the bestsellers list for weeks and won the Hubert Church Prize for best first book of fiction for the 2022 Ockham NZ Book Awards.

Greta & Valdin was a Newsroom novel of the year and the Ockham Award judges described it as “gloriously queer, hilarious and relatable”. Hannah Tunnicliffe writes in her review for Kete: “It's an Auckland barely seen in New Zealand fiction – young, diverse, told from the inside.

Racism, sexism and homophobia are all examined here in ways that make you think, sometimes cringe but mostly laugh, due to Reilly’s dry, acerbic tone which manages to also be warm and generous.”

Rebecca discusses her extraordinary modern classic with Tania Miller at the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival. 

Steve Braunias captivated festival audiences at Spy Valley in 2016, talking of the 12 true stories of crime and punishment behind his book Scene of the Crime.

We were delighted to have him back at the cellar door for the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival with Missing Persons, his latest collection of true crime writing, exposing 12 extraordinary tales of disappearance in New Zealand.  

Kate Camp talks about her wonderful new memoir You Probably Think This Song is About You brimming with hard-won wisdom and generous humour. 

In conversation with Naomi Barton, Kate shares experiences as diverse as bad relationships, misheard songs, the fallibility of memory and the wrong turns we take.

In the words of author and reviewer Catherine Chidgey: “Kate’s essays shine with wit, intelligence, and a humanity that is both intimate and universal.” 

- in conversation with Tania Miller

Kate De Goldi's new book Eddy, Eddy follows Eddy Smallbore, an orphan, who is grappling with identity, love, loss and religion. It's two years since he blew up his school life and the earthquakes felled his city. Home life is maddening. His pet-minding job is expanding in peculiar directions. And now the past and the future have come calling – in unexpected ways.

"Ruth Shaw's life has been crammed with incredible adventure, and at times damned by terrible tragedy," writes Mike White in Stuff. "There have been pirates, and prostitutes, and protests and pig farming; gold mining, gambling and grief."

Speaking to Charlotte Patterson, Ruth talks about her uplifting story of survival, her tiny Fiordland bookshops and a memoir that's helping others address wounds from their past.

- in conversation with Rachael King

Climate change is no laughing matter, but Kirsten McDougall's fast-paced novel She's a Killer set in a foreseeable future Aotearoa is full of unexpected humour. Her apathetic protagonist Alice is content to observe society's disarray until a teenage genius with a fantastic backstory upends her life and emboldens her to act.

At the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival, Kirsten discusses her masterful plot, fresh characters and the power of fiction to help us face up to climate forecasts.

Susan Paris and Kate De Goldi are changing the landscape for young readers in New Zealand, as they curate fresh writing and illustration from some of New Zealand's top talent. The pair have followed on from the success of Annual and Annual 2 with Skinny Dip, an anthology of 36 school-inspired poems from 24 New Zealand poets, to reflect everyday experiences of Kiwi kids, from nits and crushes to rainy-day lunchtimes, through a range of poetic forms.

Learn what inspires these champions of young readers, and how they push boundaries to create bespoke books for a new generation. A session for teachers, writers, artists, parents, grandparents and poetry lovers.

Charlie, 15 and pregnant at a time abortion isn’t legally available in New Zealand, makes an impulsive choice with far reaching consequences in the opening chapters of Sue Orr’s latest novel.

Loop Tracks tackles abortion, addiction, ageing, autism and euthanasia against a setting of Wellington’s first Covid-19 lockdown. They’re big topics tackled with sensitivity, elegance and humour in a work shortlisted for the 2022 NZ Ockham awards.

Sue was in conversation with Tessa Nicholson at the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival.