John McCrystal gives us insight into his new book, 'Worse Things Happen at Sea: Tales of nautical mishap, misery and mystery from New Zealand and around the world'.

Covering the tragic, the heroic, and the inexplicable, John also discusses one of our greatest maritime mysteries, the sinking of the Mikhail Lermontov in the Marlborough Sounds.

John was speaking to Mike White at the 2021 Marlborough Book Festival.

Sharon Murdoch started cartooning in her 50s and in a few short years became the first woman to regularly draw political cartoons for a daily newspaper in New Zealand. 

At the 2021 Marlborough Book Festival, Sharon discusses with Nikki MacDonald her life, her award-winning work and her drive to draw attention to social justice - and the joy of drawing cats and dogs.

John McCrystal tells the story of New Zealand through maps and the explorers who made them.

From early Maori and European voyagers, to settlers, surveyors and soldiers, John’s book, 'Singing the Trail', unearths little-known and fascinating histories of this country contained in beautiful and extraordinary maps.

John was speaking to Mike White at the 2021 Marlborough Book Festival.

Tickets for the Marlborough Book Festival 2022 are on sale now.

Should we be paralysed by fear or optimistic for the world future generations will inherit?

Rebecca Priestley experiences both emotions in her eco-memoir, 'Fifteen Million Years in Antarctica', reflecting on her three visits to Antarctica. The book was praised by reviewers and longlisted for the general non-fiction award at the 2020 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Speaking to Nikki MacDonald at the 2021 Marlborough Festival, Rebecca discusses the science carried out in Antarctica; her awe for the landscape and wildlife; and her concerns and hope for the future.

Tickets for the Marlborough Book Festival 2022 are on sale now.

The Guardian praised 'The Absolute Book' as "everything a fantasy should be: original, politically engaged and teeming with literary allusion”.

Elizabeth Knox discusses her inspiration for the story, the references within to other fantasy traditions, and important messages the novel conveys about reality and the challenges of current times.

If you haven’t read the book before the session, we wager you won’t be able to resist after hearing all about it.

Elizabeth was speaking to Jane Forrest Waghorn at the 2021 Marlborough Book Festival.

Tickets for the 2022 Marlborough Book Festival are now on sale.

Elizabeth Knox has been imagining fantastic worlds and characters since she was a child. Some of those plots are still unfolding.

The writer shares stories from publishing rejections to publishing sensations starting with 'The Vintner’s Luck', and how she emerged from family loss to write her latest book, 'The Absolute Book', which she feels is her best yet.

Elizabeth was speaking to Kim Hill at the 2021 Marlborough Book Festival.

Dame Fiona marked her 80th birthday last year with the publication of 'All the Way to Summer', a beautiful volume of stories; all moving, insightful and written with love.

The final stories trace her own history of love, a memoir of significant people from childhood and beyond.

The collection is the perfect starting point for a conversation about her extraordinary life.

Dame Fiona was speaking to Tessa Nicholson at the 2021 Marlborough Book Festival.

What’s it like when your first published novel wins big awards and receives rave reviews?

'Auē', Becky Manawatu’s story of good kids and grim circumstances set just down the road in Kaikōura, has won a place in the hearts of her many readers.

Becky was speaking to Jane Forrest Waghorn at the 2021 Marlborough Book Festival.

Mike White discusses his delightful, funny and moving book 'How To Walk A Dog' with Tessa Nicholson at the 2021 Marlborough Book Festival.

Mike talks about his dog Cooper, the remarkable people and dogs he’s met while walking him, and life at a Wellington dog park.

The Ockham judges praised 'Sprigs' as “an unflinching novel which forces us to reckon with uncomfortable truths about power and privilege in Aotearoa”. The book comes with trigger warnings, but also nuanced storytelling and some comic relief.

Speaking at the 2021 Marlborough Book Festival, Brannavan discusses the book and the issues around masculinity it puts in the spotlight with Tessa Nicholson.