James will talk about what he brought into the Randell Cottage — poetry and books for children — and what he hopes he will take out of it: a novel for grown-ups.

James wears a number of writing hats. He is a:

• children’s writer
• poet
• editor
• teacher of creative writing, and
• promoter of poetry in Christchurch.

Apart from a collection of short stories set in China, The Chinese Interpreter, and a few other short stories, he has rarely written fiction for adults.

Writing for grown-ups

His time in the Randell Cottage has given him the opportunity to write a novel for grown-ups.

James's wide-ranging talk will include readings from recently published work and background on how the pieces came about and then — braving the superstition regarding talk of work in progress — he will discuss The Frog Prince, his current Randell Cottage project.

There will be ample opportunity for the audience to participate via question and answer.

About the speaker

James Norcliffe is an editor, poet and children’s writer.

His recent work includes Dark Days in the Oxygen Cafe (VUP), The Pirates and the Nightmaker, Twice Upon A Time (Longacre/Random/Puffin) and Bonsai: Best Small Stories from Aotearoa New Zealand edited with Michelle Elvy and Frankie McMillan (Canterbury University Press).

In our final event marking Suffrage125 Dr Hilary Stace looks back at some of the influential women who fought for social, political and economic justice in New Zealand.

A century before Jacinda Ardern became Prime Minister an earlier generation of left-wing feminists paved the way for those who followed. They were the first generation to vote, although for many their first vote came after immigration to New Zealand. This group of women:

• helped found the Labour Party
• lobbied for the right to stand for Parliament (finally won in 1919)
• fought for social justice 
• stood for election to boards and committees, and
• ran community and voluntary groups.

All while supporting their men including during wartime imprisonment, and eventually into the First Labour Government. They were involved in all aspects of the Labour movement although political power at the highest levels was largely denied them.

Janet Fraser and her Wellington friends

Janet Fraser, wife of Prime Minister Peter Fraser, was one example. An early member of the Wellington Hospital Board, she was one of the first women JPs, encouraged Peter’s interest in the arts, was influential in bringing the Polish refugees to New Zealand and hosted a visit by her friend Eleanor Roosevelt.

She was also Peter’s Parliamentary gatekeeper and partner in decision-making. This presentation will look at Janet Fraser and some of her Wellington socialist friends.

About the speaker

Past careers working at the Turnbull Library and the Dictionary of NZ Biography provided opportunities for Hilary Stace to pursue her interests in feminist history and politics. She is also a researcher on disability issues and her PhD was on autism and public policy.

Hear two personal stories of what it is like to seek refuge in New Zealand. This talk will provide a fascinating historical perspective and insight into the refugee experience.

Inge Woolf came to New Zealand as a Holocaust refugee in the 1950s, Ibrahim Omer in 2008 from war-torn Eritrea.

Over 50 years apart, these two personal stories of seeking refuge in New Zealand provide a fascinating historical perspective and
insight into the refugee experience.

All forums will be live-streamed on the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand’s Facebook page.

Holocaust Centre of New Zealand’s Facebook

Children's Holocaust Memorial

About the speakers

Tracey Barnett will moderate this session. Tracey is a journalist and former Executive Member of the Refugee Councill of New Zealand.

Ibrahim Omer is a former refugee who arrived in New Zealand in 2008 through the refugee quota. He is the Chair of the Change Makers Refugee Forum.

Inge Woolf survived the Holocaust and is a co-founder of the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand. 

Victors write history and the First World War is no exception. Frantz  shows the “other side” of the aftermath of the Great War, following the grieving widow of a German soldier and her journey to forgiveness and healing. Starring Pierre Niney, Paula Beer, Anton von Lucke, and Ernst Stötzner.

This beautifully presented French/German language film is being shown in conjunction with the current exhibition Goodbye to all that: Armistice 1918 in the Turnbull Gallery.

Goodbye to all that: Armistice 1918

Our speakers represent women stepping into new territories to lead and make a difference. Refreshments and networking afterwards.

Jess Manins — CEO MIXT Studios

MIXT specialises in the production of augmented and virtual reality (VR) solutions. MIXT has developed a VR tool for the Breast Cancer Foundation to support women undergoing treatment.

Jess will talk about the opportunities and challenges afforded by disruptive technologies.

Maia Mariner — Founder Lazy Sneakers

At the age of 12, Maia set up the Lazy Sneakers charity to rehome used sneakers to children in need.

Maia will talk about what motivated her and reflections as a young woman of Maori and Pasifika heritage. An impressive young woman, now in her first year at Queen Margaret’s College.

Hiria Te Rangi — Kaiwhakahaere (CEO) Whare Hauora

Hiria loves her community and loves technology, so leading Whare Hauora was a natural role for her.

Whare Hauora goes into Marae, community centres and schools to teach low-income families about Whare Sensors, how to build them and how they can help whanau make informed decisions about how their home affects their health.

With 20 years in technical and business roles spanning open data, open source, digital technologies and infrastructure, Hiria relishes her role and the difference Wharehauora can make in Aotearoa.

Presenters, kai and performance.

With, Dame Winnie Laban, Kate Sheppard and Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia represented by their direct descendants Elsie Jolliffe and Mona-Pauline Mangakāhia, Alexia Hilbertidou (Founder, Girl Boss), Fatumata Bah (Founde, Mana Wahine), Latayvia Tualasea Tautai (Co-Founder of Labournesia) and Jaymie Rangiuia (Young Guns Support Leader for Manaaki Ability Trust).

In partnership with Women Walk and Work for Peace

This learning event is for

The tour is for primary, intermediate, and secondary school library teams. It's a valuable day for anyone who would like some new ideas to re-energise their school library space and services.

Bring your whole library team as it’s an ideal opportunity to discuss ideas for developing your school library in 2019.

Tour details — where we'll meet and end

We'll do the driving for you! 

• We'll travel by bus starting at Ōrauwhata: Bishopdale Library and Community Centre where there's ample parking for your car. Sign in between 9:30am to 9:55am and the bus will depart at 10:00am. 
• We'll visit 2 primary school libraries, 2 secondary school libraries and one intermediate school library (all different libraries to those we visited in 2017).
• We'll return you to Ōrauwhata: Bishopdale Library and Community Centre by 3pm.

What's provided

Lunch and morning tea are provided.

Register or find out more

Register for this course — space is limited, so book your spot now. Registrations close 5pm 15 November 2018.

Contact jan.boustead@dia.govt.nz for more information about the tour.

More Services to Schools professional learning courses and events

Dr Vincent O’Malley will present an overview of this turbulent period in our history — a series of conflicts that profoundly shaped the course and direction of our nation’s history.

Dr O’Malley looks at the origins, causes and consequences of these conflicts and discusses how the wars have been remembered historically.

About the speaker

Vincent is a well-known and acclaimed Wellington historian, whose book, The Great War for New Zealand: Waikato 1800-2000, was published by Bridget Williams Books in 2016.

He has received a Friends of the Turnbull Library research grant to help him research his latest book project, a history of the New Zealand Wars aimed at the secondary school market.

A Friends of the Turnbull Library event

Collision, Compromise and Conversion during the Wesleyan Hokianga Mission, 1827-1855: A critical study of Hokianga Māori, missionary and kauri merchant interactions is a critical analysis of early New Zealand.

The book looks at culture change and Māori conversion during the Wesleyan Hokianga Mission and  how with Mission Superintendent, William White, Māori adopted and adapted Christianity and European 'modernity' to suit their own culture.

Author Gary Clover will present his recently launched book on culture change and Māori conversion during the Wesleyan Hokianga Mission.

Wesleyan Hokianga Mission in New Zealand

The book seeks to pay tribute to the scholarship of the late Associate-Professor John M.R. Owens of Massey University by highlighting some of his early New Zealand contact era scholarship as presented in the Hokianga portion of his unpublished PhD thesis of 1969 on the Wesleyan Mission in New Zealand. 

Also to inform the forthcoming two day bicentenary symposium on the beginning of the Wesleyan Mission to New Zealand in 1819 to be held by Methodist churches on 24-26 May 2019 at the College of St John the Evangelist, Auckland.

Author Gary Clover, Dame Claudia Orange (Te Papa Research Fellow) and Dr Geoff Troughton (Senior History Lecturer, Victoria University of Wellington) will each speak about the publication.

Light refreshments will be available.

About the speaker

Gary Clover is a retired Methodist Presbyter with a forty-year interest in culture change and conversion in early contact-era New Zealand.

His 1973 Auckland MA thesis examined Māori conversion in South Taranaki. He has earlier published two monographs, and in the Wesley Historical Society and Stimulus journals, and elsewhere.

Gary Clover, author of Collision, Compromise & Conversion during the Wesleyan Hokianga Mission, 1827-1855: A critical study of Hokianga Māori, missionary and kauri merchant interactions

Join the Friends of the Dorothy Neal White Collection for festive drinks and nibbles, followed by a talk from Kay Hancock, on her research into New Zealand picture books of the 1940s and 1950s. Kay will share her discoveries of stories of a 'fairyland' New Zealand, populated with creatures of the bush, both real and imagined.

How where New Zealand children portrayed in picture books prior to the 1960s?

Kay’s investigation of mid-twentieth century New Zealand picture books arose as an offshoot of her doctoral research into the Ready to Read instructional reading series.

Supported by a research grant from the Friends of the Dorothy Neal White collection, Kay wanted to find out how New Zealand children had been portrayed in picture books prior to the 1960s.

Her investigation revealed that very few of these books in fact include New Zealand children as characters. Instead the books are overwhelmingly focused on the natural world of New Zealand, in particular, the creatures of the New Zealand bush.

Gilderdale (1982) had recognised the earnest desire within New Zealand writing “to tell children about the Maoris, the settlers, the bush, the native birds, and the hazards of rising tides and fast-swelling rivers”.

Bush and birds

'Bush and birds' are indeed key features of picture books of this period. Information about the natural world is woven into the fantastical adventures of birds, insects, and 'flower fairies' in a New Zealand 'fairyland', often accompanied by detailed, engaging illustrations. Kay will describe some of the more intriguing examples.

About the speaker

Kay Hancock is a literacy consultant and a children’s literature researcher.

Her background is in primary school teaching and educational publishing, in particular the development of early reading materials for New Zealand students. 

She has recently completed her doctoral thesis, which explores the Ready to Read instructional reading series 1963-1988 as New Zealand children’s literature.

The WW100 website describes The Battle of Le Quesnoy, in northern France on 4 November 1918, as one of New Zealand’s most important victories in World War 1, and the last.

WW100 website

A few days after the liberation of the town, the Armistice ending the First World War was signed in Compiègne, France. The liberation of Le Quesnoy is still anchored in the memory of New Zealanders and the people of the town.

To mark the centenary of this major event, Turnbull research librarian Gillian Headifen explores the collections to identify material relating to the Battle and the people involved.

About the speaker

Gillian Headifen is the Research Librarian Oral History in the Alexander Turnbull Library’s Research Enquiries team, and has worked in the Library for 17 years.

She has previously given talks in the Family History series on the Battle of Messines, the sinking of the Marquette, and the use of oral history for family history research.

The book began with an oral history project for the New Zealand Society of Authors, that was funded by an Award in Oral History in 2015. The history project was to record the stories of senior members of the New Zealand literary community:

• Joy Cowley
• Marilyn Duckworth
• Tessa Duder
• Chris Else
• Patricia Grace
• David Hill
• Witi Ihimaera
• Fiona Kidman
• Owen Marshall
• Vincent O’Sullivan
• Philip Temple, and
• Albert Wendt.

Deborah will outline the process from oral history into book and the surprises and discoveries she made along the way about the challenges and pleasures of the writing vocation from 12 of our most experienced and brilliant practitioners.

Hear the backstory about Toby Morris's comic

Come along to hear illustrator Toby Morris and educator Kate Potter reveal the backstory behind the book and why they think the story of Te Tiriti is important for all New Zealanders. 

You'll learn what shaped the book's illustrations and its words and find out about some of the fascinating characters it contains.

Bring your family

Bring the family and your questions and enjoy a time to rediscover the tale of Te Tiriti!

Brought to you by LitCrawl with support from the National Library of New Zealand.

Using the art of storytelling, 8 writers and thinkers voice their thoughts and reflections on Armistice Day. These brilliant minds look back to scenes of history, explore the struggles of today and ponder the future.

Join them to hear how such an important day in our World’s history has influenced creative minds 100 years on.

Including Murdoch Stephens, Robyn Hunt, Rachel Buchanan, Harry Ricketts, Yazan El Fares and Mohammad El Fares.

This event, is brought to you by LitCrawl with support from the National Library of New Zealand.

About the speaker

Harry Ricketts is a poet, biographer, editor, anthologist, critic, academic, literary scholar and cricket writer. He has written biographies of Rudyard Kipling and of a dozen British First World War poets.

Murdoch Stephens published two books in 2018 - Doing Our Bit: the campaign to double the refugee quota and an academic book on what critical theories can offer to discussions of urgency and climate change. He founded the double the quota campaign, is publisher at Lawrence & Gibson and recently completed a PhD.

Robyn Hunt is a non-fiction writer and blogger who contributes to national online publications. Her passions are books, reading, language, accessible information, human rights and purple. She likes delivering tough realities with a light touch, and exploring disability experience. She hates losing her specs. She's co-founder of Crip the Lit.

Dr Rachel Buchanan (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa) is the author of Ko Taranaki Te Maunga (BWB Text, 2018), The Parihaka Album (Huia, 2009) and Stop Press (Scribe, 2013). Her essays on trees and Taranaki land have been anthologised in Tell You What: Great New Zealand Non-Fiction.

Historians Jane Tolerton, Steven Loveridge and Barbara Mulligan will each draw on their unique knowledge of the First World War to present what life was like after the signing of the armistice agreement on 11th November, 1918. The armistice ended the fighting on land, sea and air.

Dealing with physical and psychological wounds

Jane Tolerton will speak to her upcoming book that focuses on the lives of three men who were teenagers when they went to war. She will discuss their homecomings and how it was the women who picked them up and put them back on their feet, helping them get through their physical and psychological wounds.

Servicemen and their wartime experiences

Steven Loveridge will speak about his current research which focuses on the different positions former servicemen came to in regards to their wartime experiences.

Wellington war memorials

Barbara Mulligan will take a more practical approach to the talk and will discuss her ongoing projects which focus on Wellington war memorials and the restoration of the gravestones of influenza victims at Karori cemetery.

Each speaker will present for around 20-30 minutes and there will be around 5 minutes for questions at the end of each presentation.

About the speakers

Jane Tolerton ONZM is a New Zealand biographer, journalist and historian. In 1987 she worked with Nicholas Boyack to set up the World War I Oral History Archive. Her most recent book, Make Her Praises Heard Afar on the role of women’s involvement in WWI was published in 2017.

Steven Loveridge graduated with a PhD in History from Victoria University of Wellington. He has taught courses on the First World War and written several publications and books on New Zealand’s involvement in WWI, including Calls to Arms: New Zealand Society and Commitment to the Great War in 2014.

Barbara Mulligan has a degree in history and has embarked on further research of the Spanish flu and Wellington war memorials as a passion project. Over the last two years, Barbara has been working to restore the gravesites of Influenza victims at the Karori cemetery and tracking down descendants of some of the 800 Wellingtonians who died from flu between October and December 1918. She also aims to install permanent interpretation panels at the cemetery to restore the memory of the victims.

In conjunction with Goodbye to all that: Armistice 1918 an exhibition exploring how people celebrated the end of World War One curated in collaboration with students from the Museum and Heritage Studies programme at Victoria University of Wellington.

Goodbye to all that: Armistice 1918

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is a call for action to all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet.

One of the 17 sustainable development goals, SDG 5 is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. 

Hear our experienced panel of women talk about:

• New Zealand's response internationally and the support we provide to achieving SDG 5 through our aid programme
• how far we’ve come towards gender equality
• some of the ways libraries can, and do, support equality and empowerment of women and girls
• Canada’s approach to the Sustainable Development Goals, and
• some of the key feminist measures the Canadian government has implemented.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals website

About the speakers

Kate Bradlow, is the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade's (MFAT) new senior adviser in inclusiveness, responsible for leading the MFAT's policy direction on gender, youth, human rights and inclusion in development policy and processes. Kate has 17 years’ experience working in community development in rural New Zealand and Cambodia, and peace-building in Eastern and Central Africa and the Middle East.

Lis Cowey, Director Policy, Ministry for Women will reflect on how far we have come.

Paula Eskett, President, Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa explains how libraries are engaging with communities to support the sustainable development goals.

Linda Savoie, Corporate Secretary, Library and Archives Canada. Currently Corporate Secretary at Library and Archives Canada, Linda has managed policy and programs in the government of Canada for two decades. 

Her interest in SDG 5 stems in part from her years at Status of Women Canada, where as Director General of the Women’s Program she explored the power of partnerships and alliances in advancing gender equality. 

It also ensues from an unorthodox career path that includes time as a lawyer, a military officer, an aircraft mechanic and a museum educator, all of which shed light on some systemic aspects of inequality.

Opened in 1866, a century later St Paul’s Church in Thorndon, Wellington was facing a future of demolition, dismemberment or relocation from its site.

Elizabeth Cox will discuss the heritage battle during the 1950s–1960s to decide the future of the church. She will discuss some of the personalities and organisations that entered the fray.

What is heritage?

The talk will also consider the developing and differing concepts of what 'heritage' is in New Zealand. Concepts which were put to the test during the sometimes bitter fight to save the church, one of the first and most important heritage battles in New Zealand conservation history.

About the speaker

Elizabeth Cox is a Wellington heritage consultant and a senior historian at Manatū Taonga the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

She has researched and written about the social history of many of Wellington’s most important heritage buildings. For a number of years, she has undertaken a project to explore the social history of Wellington city through the lens of just one building, Old St Paul's. This project can be found on the Old St Paul's website.

Her book about the saving of the church, A Friend Indeed: The Saving of Old St Paul's', was launched by the Prime Minister earlier this year.

Elizabeth blogs about Wellington heritage issues on the Bay Heritage Consultants heritage blog.

Knowledge and truth 

We inhabit a world in which knowledge and truth can be difficult to discern.

Traditional media outlets are denounced as enemies of the people. Academics and ‘experts’ are increasingly distrusted. More and more people turn to the echo chambers of digital media for their information. In this disturbing world, what is fake and what is real? And, perhaps more importantly, who decides?

Where and how knowledge is generated and disseminated?

This panel brings together scholars from around the world, to discuss where and how knowledge is generated and disseminated, and how it affects our politics, business, education, information systems and social wellbeing.

Avoid filter bubbles and learn about this important issue straight from these internationally respected sources:

Professor Rosa Chun (University College Dublin)

Associate Professor Val Hooper (Victoria University of Wellington)

Dan Maffei (George Washington University, Washington D.C.)

Associate Professor Michael Macaulay (Victoria University of Wellington)

Professor Leyland Pitt (Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki)

Linda Savoie (Library and Archives Canada)

Associate Professor Eugene Tan (Singapore Management University)

Associate Professor Werner Webb (University of South Africa)

On 5 November 1881, over 1500 colonial troops and their Māori allies invaded the village of Parihaka near the Taranaki coast. Many people were expelled, buildings destroyed, and rangatira Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi were jailed.

Dr Rachel Buchanan in conversation with Hon Mahara Okeroa

Join Taranaki kaumātua and Treaty negotiator Hon Mahara Okeroa (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa) and Dr Rachel Buchanan (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa), author of BWB Text Ko Taranaki Te Maunga, at the National Library for the anniversary of te pāhuatanga, the invasion of Parihaka.

Mahara Okeroa grew up at Parihaka and his kuia, Te Ngoungou, was one of te hunga ririki children who met the invading police and soldiers in 1881.

Rachel and Mahara will discuss their own connection to Taranaki and the lasting impact of confiscation, sharing a kōrero on the apologies and settlements that have taken place since the invasion.

This event will be chaired by Dr Maria Bargh (Te Arawa and Ngati Awa), Head of School, Te Kawa a Māui, Victoria University.

Refreshments will be served after the event.

This event is part of the BWB Winter Series. BWB gratefully acknowledges the support of Creative New Zealand.

Reflecting on changes in New Zealand’s musical and socio-political culture, de Castro-Robinson considers her own journey as a female composer from the mid-1980s onward.

About the speaker

Eve de Castro-Robinson is one of New Zealand’s foremost composers, whose works have been widely performed. She has made many contributions to New Zealand music, including as a trustee of SOUNZ and is currently Associate Professor in Composition at the University of Auckland.

The annual Lilburn Lectures are a collaboration between the Lilburn Trust and the Alexander Turnbull Library.