AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Owen Marshall

Owen Marshall’s Pearly Gates is shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at this year’s Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. You can listen to Kiran’s review on 95bFM Breakfast’s Loose Reads here: Marshall spoke to Kiran ahead of The Ockham NZ Book Awards Winners’ Ceremony which will be live-streamed from 6pm May 12 on the Ockhams YouTube channel where you can now also view readings from the shortlisted authors.

Kia ora, Owen! Congratulations on being shortlisted for the Jan Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction! Pearly Gates is a charming novel set in a vividly evoked provincial South Island town. A sense of place and landscape is often a key element in your writing - how important is place and landscape to you? 
Most of my writing is concerned with the investigation of character, and I like to give readers a sense of where my characters are, as well as who they are. Landscapes and cityscapes affect the people who live there, and the people in turn affect their settings. I enjoy the evocation of physical surroundings when I read and strive for that in my own work.

Pearly is a “good local son” who is accustomed to success in his life as a rugby player for Otago and a two term mayor. He is aware however, that the tide can turn. What were you interested in exploring there?
In regard to the themes of Pearly Gates - I wished to emphasise the complexity of personality even in apparently ordinary people, the moral ambiguities we all share. Pearly makes a bad decision and has to live with the consequences of that. Also I hoped to present a convincing portrait of provincial South Island life.

What book is your comfort read/re-read and what has been in your lockdown bookstack? 
Despite the time provided by the present lockdown, I haven't been reading much over the last few weeks because we have recently moved to another home and chaos rules. I have been re-reading some of Alice Munro's fine stories from her collection Dear Life. As for a ‘comfort read,' I enjoy the Jane Austen novels and also the fiction of Irish writer William Trevor. In non-fiction, I find fascinating the works of neurologist Oliver Sacks. The novel that most moved and impressed me in recent years was Enduring Love by Ian McEwan.

What are you working on next, Owen?
After several novels, I have returned in my own writing to short stories, encouraged by a recent grant from Creative New Zealand. Short stories are not as commercially successful as novels, but have an especially honourable place in New Zealand literature and offer interesting challenges to both writer and reader.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Pearly Gates by Owen Marshall

Kiran has worked her way through the Ockham NZ Book Awards Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction shortlist and reviewed Owen Marshall’s Pearly Gates on 95bFM’s Loose Reads. It’s a lovely, gentle novel set in a small North Otago town, and is based around Pat “Pearly” Gates. A good local son made good, Pearly is a real estate agent, two term mayor and ex rugby player. Marshall is great at evoking a sense of place and character, and Pearly Gates is charming.
The Ockham NZ Book Awards Winners’ Ceremony will be live-streamed from 6pm May 12 on the Ockhams YouTube channel where you can now also view readings from the shortlisted authors.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Recollections of my Nonexistence by Rebecca Solnit

Recollections of my Nonexistence is Rebecca’s Solnit’s memoir - giving background and context to her body of work - 20 books on feminism, place, culture, ‘wandering and walking, hope and disaster.’

Solnit writes about reading here:
‘Sometimes when you are devastated you want not a reprieve but a mirror of your condition or a reminder that you are not alone in it. Other times it is not the propaganda or the political art that helps you face a crisis but whatever gives you respite from it.’

Solnit never feels like she’s speaking above you as a reader. You’ll underline and bookmark the many powerful lines in this book. It’s an intelligent and thoughtful read for both new readers and established fans.

#BookshopsWillBeBack

Listen to Jenna and Rachel chatting across the interweb below:

Rebecca Solnit, Jenna, Suri and Renee from Twizel Bookshop at the Winter Institute in Baltimore, January 2020.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Auē by Becky Manawatu & the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction shortlist

Beaming in via her Waterview bubble, Kiran spoke to Rachel and Tess on 95bFM’s Loose Reads about how she is reading her way through the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction shortlist. Kiran reviewed shortlisted title Auē by Becky Manawatu.

Kiran says about Auē:
”If bookshops were currently open and I was on the shop floor right now, Auē is the book I would be putting into everyone’s hands because it’s a knockout of a book and I want everyone to read it! I finished reading Auē at 2.30am with my heart thumping in my chest as I accelerated towards the end. And it’s so powerful that I spent the next day in a kind of “book hangover” state. While it deals with domestic violence, gang culture, the marginalised, and fractured families, it is ultimately beautifully pitched and evoked, full of hope, friendship and tenderness. This is the kind of uniquely gritty New Zealand social realism that I’m thrilled to see being published, and I think people will still be talking about Auē in decades to come…”

The three other shortlisted titles are A Mistake by Carl Shuker, Halibut on the Moon by David Vann, and Pearly Gates by Owen Marshall. Kiran recommends squizzing the shortlist - there’s something for almost any fiction reader!

More information about the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards can be found here. And as a special bonus, check out Kiran’s playlist to accompany Auē below!

95bFM's Loose Reads: Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman

With a book that has chapter titles such as, Sheltering in Place, Cabin Fever and Bracing for Change, Laura Zigman’s Separation Anxiety may speak to you more than usual.

Judy is an author and mother in her 50’s. Her 14 year old son doesn’t need her, she has writers block and can’t afford to divorce her anxious husband. Whilst going through her son’s baby items in the basement, she finds an organic cotton baby sling and after putting it on, she looks down at her dog Charlotte…

This book is a story of connection, loneliness and has a promise of lightness and laughs in a time where we all need some brain space. Jenna also recommends David Sedaris, Caitlin Moran and Nina Stibbe for some comedic relief.

Time Out is not currently open, but we urge for you to wait for us to open again to treat yourself to your next literary fix. #WaitForYourBookshop

Listen to Jenna, Rachel and Tess chatting across the interweb below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: Going Dark: The Secret Social Lives of Extremists by Julia Ebner

Beaming in by safe remote access, Kiran reviewed Going Dark: The Secret Social Lives of Extremists by Julia Ebner on 95bFM’s Loose Reads. A fascinating deep dive, it’s an investigative look at extremist movements and their rise, and it helps us understand the ideas driving the far right and extremist groups.

95bFM's Loose Reads: How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

Visual artist Jenny Odell contextualises and explores how we can live more fulfilling life just by paying more attention - just for ourselves.

How to Do Nothing is not a self help book, but a thorough investigation into the role of our individual attention and how it can diverted sideways to appreciate the world we live in without commodification.

This is an incredibly thoughtful and fascinating read. Jenna’s review with Rachel and Tess is below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom

Suri's in the studio this week, chatting to Rachel and Tess about a memoir that's an absolute must-read. The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom narrates stories from over 100 years in the same house, with a huge touch on the influence of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

This was our February Book of the Month! Listen below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: 2000ft Above Worry Level by Eamonn Marra

On 95bFM’s Loose Reads, Kiran spoke about Wellington writer and comic Eamonn Marra’s debut novel 2000ft Above Worry Level. An episodic series of connected pieces, this novel is written in a spare, laconic style and deals with anxiety, depression, awkward cam sex, and unemployment - but with the most brilliant sense of comic timing and a lightness of touch. It’s remarkably laugh-out-loud funny and touching, too.

95bFM's Loose Reads: In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

‘If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.’
ZORA NEALE HURSTON

After making multiple ‘Best of 2019’ lists in the USA, Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House has finally made it to New Zealand.

Machado describes a year long, psychologically abusive relationship with her ex-girlfriend through vignettes headed with narrative genres.

She contextualises her experience as she looks outwards into writing on abusive relationships in the queer community, folklore and pop culture.

This book is intense, helpless and visceral but as Machado says, this is an act of resurrection for herself. Incredibly smart, powerful and compelling - this may be my memoir of the year already!

Listen to Jenna’s review below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: Strange Hotel by Eimear McBride

On 95bFM’s Loose Reads Kiran reviewed the eagerly anticipated new novel Strange Hotel by Eimear McBride, author of A Girl is a Half Formed Thing and The Lesser Bohemians. A slim novel at only 149 pages, Strange Hotel calls to be read in one feverish siting with a cold white wine which is what our unnamed narrator orders by the bottle from room service as she moves between a series of hotels in France, Prague, Oslo, Auckland and Austin. A searing meditation of the mind, body and loss, this radical novel is perfect for fans of Edna O’Brien and Rachel Cusk.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Braised Pork by An Yu

An Yu’s debut novel tells the story of Jia Jia who after discovering her husband dead in the bath, finds a curious drawing from his dream.

From Beijing to Tibet - Braised Pork weaves together domesticity, Chinese traditions and myth - resulting in a gentle exploration of grief.

Braised Pork is also our March Lit Reads pick! Listen to Jenna’s review with Rachel below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: All Who Live on Islands by Rose Lu

Kiran reviewed All Who Live on Islands by Rose Lu on 95bFM’s Loose Reads. In this collection of nine essays which move between China, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Whanganui, Lu writes with a lightness of touch about food, friendship, relationships, casual and internalised racism, sex, working in the tech industry, and what it’s like to grow up as a Chinese migrant in a multicultural society that has a monocultural focus. Kiran says, “we need more writing like this and I think it’s coming, which is exciting.”

95bFM's Loose Reads: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Are you looking for a great summer read that’s so compelling that you can’t put it down?

Kiley Reid’s Such a Fun Age is a topical page-turner that’s funny and sharp. Brilliant dialogue gives depth to her complex characters as they navigate race, privilege and wokeness.

This book has been bought by Lena Waithe’s production company and will soon be a TV series.

Listen to Jenna’s review with Rachel and Tess below!

95bFM's Loose Reads: Jenna's Christmas Picks

Alright, it's the end of the year and wowee, Jenna has a full list of reckons for the last Loose Reads of 2019.

NOVEL OF THE YEAR The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

ADVENTURE STORY OF THE YEAR The Burning River by Lawrence Patchett

EPIC SUMMER READ Ducks Newburyport by Lucy Ellman

BEST BOOK FOR KIDS The Adventures of Tupaia by Courtney Sina Meredith
BEST BOOK FOR BABIES My First Words In Māori by Stacey Morrison

BEST FANCY BOOK Private Gardens of Aotearoa by Suzanne Turley

BEST CLIMATE SCIENCE BOOK Fifteen MIllion Years in Antarctica by Rebecca Priestley

BEST BOOK FOR A 2020 RESOLUTION Tales from a Hot Financial Mess by Frances Cook.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Great Music Books for Summer!

For Kiran’s final 95bFM’s Loose Reads slot for 2019, she raved about three great new music books for the music nut in your life, or maybe to go on your own Chrimbo wishlist. Acid for the Children by Flea, Face It by Debbie Harry and Bowie’s Books: The Hundred Literary Heroes that Changed His Life by John McConnell.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Me by Elton John

Jenna reviews this bloody excellent memoir by Elton John. Filled with incredible tales of celebrity, drugs and music - you will find yourself repeating these anecdotes around the dinner table.

This is the perfect Christmas present for any music lover in your life. Listen to Jenna’s review with Rachel and Tess below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: It Gets Me Home, This Curving Track by Ian Penman

This beautiful collection brings together music criticism, history, social commentary and biography in eight intelligent and elegantly written long-form pieces by music journalist Ian Penman who has contributed to the NME (when it was still a class act!), Guardian and London Review of Books (from which some of these essays originated). Penman eloquently covers the mod revival, James Brown, Charlie Parker, Frank Sinatra, John Fahey, Steely Dan, Elvis Presley and Prince.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo is the ‘other’ winner of the 2019 Booker prize, alongside Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments.

Perhaps deserving of being the only winner, Evaristo’s novel takes us into a deep character study of 12 mostly black, mostly women.

Investigating the complexity and variety of gender, class, feminism, politics and sexuality - Girl, Woman, Other explores form with whip smart observation. Listen to Jenna’s review with Rachel and Tess on 95bFM’s Loose Reads below:

Audio Block

Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more

95bFM's Loose Reads: Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock & Roll by Nick Tosches

Think you know about country music? Think again! To celebrate the wild, gutsy and pioneering music journalist Nick Tosches who just passed away, Kiran reviewed Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock & Roll on 95bFM’s Loose Reads. Looking at the history of country music from honky tonk hell to rockabilly heaven, Tosches goes way beyond Hank Williams and excavates the true dark heart of country music, activating the colourful personalities behind it. A super juicy book, filled with tales of brawling, murder and intrigue, it will appeal to any music lover - whether you like country music or not!