Join Lawrence Patchett (Ursula Bethell Writer in Residence) for a reading and some Q & A about his new book 'The Burning River' at 12 noon, Tuesday 15 October, Level 2 Puaka-James Hight (Central Library). Meet at the Information Desk.
Lawrence will be giving away a copy of The Burning River during the event.
About the author
Lawrence Patchett is a Pākehā writer of fiction. His ancestors come from the Shetland Islands, Scotland, England, and Ireland. Raised near the Waikirikiri/ Selwyn River in Canterbury, he’s currently one of the Ursula Bethell Writers in Residence at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha/ the University of Canterbury.
His fiction has been recognised with the NZSA Hubert Church Award for Best First Book of Fiction, and in the Long and the Short of It Short Story Competition. His work has also appeared in Sport, Overland, Landfall, Dominion Post, Hue & Cry, and on Radio New Zealand National.
He has a PhD in Creative Writing from Victoria University, and is a keen but very gradual learner of te reo Māori, currently studying towards Te Aupikitanga ki te Reo Kairangi at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
The Burning River - Available from 10th Oct 2019 (pre-orders available from Victoria University Press)
In a radically changed Aotearoa New Zealand, Van’s life in the swamp is hazardous. Sheltered by Rau and Matewai, he mines plastic and trades to survive. When a young visitor summons him to the fenced settlement on the hill, he is offered a new and frightening responsibility—a perilous inland journey that leads to a tense confrontation and the prospect of a rebuilt world.
Juliet Lackersteen
Email: juliet.lackersteen@canterbury.ac.nz
Phone: +64 3 369 4220 (internal 94220)
