Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival 2021
A Warm Welcome
from the Chair
Kia ora tātou,
It’s with a great sense of excitement that I welcome you to the sixth Featherston Booktown Festival - and to Featherston/Paetumokai.
This year, we are offering 55 events and hosting 99 presenters and literary provocateurs, along with 23 booksellers.
Featherston Booktown belongs to the people of the Featherston community, many of whom generously volunteer their time and talents to ensure the Festival’s success.
But it also belongs to all those who love books, writing and ideas - and who take delight in the artefact and craft of the book, whether it be by offering books for sale or publishing, editing and making them - or through exploring the tables and shelves of booksellers and bookshops in search of that fugitive tome.
This year’s Festival programme offers a mix of new initiatives and established audience favourites.
The new initiatives include:
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A programme for Schools in the days leading up to the Festival – Speed Date an Author, Storytime with Selina Tusitala Marsh and Donovan Bixley and Slam Poetry at Kuranui College for senior students.
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This year we have formed a partnership with Wai Word to bring Wairarapa writers to the Festival and they will talk about the influence of place on their writing.
The genesis of these innovations is the strategic goal of Featherston Booktown to be more than simply an annual festival - but to be a nationally significant literary development organisation.
You’ll see that, by popular demand, our programme includes those events which, over the past years, have made Featherston Booktown a compelling destination - but, this year, we’ve tried, as always, to change things up and keep things fresh.
Over the three days of the Festival, we offer adventures through books, book-shaping, stories and ideas, including Māori kai, home-baking, locally made cheese and Country tea and cakes.
A warm welcome to our booksellers, many who have supported us since the beginning of Featherston Booktown and some who are new this year. We also welcome a number of self-publishers who will be selling their books with the booksellers in the Anzac Hall.
I’d like to thank our sponsors and donors - Featherston Booktown couldn’t happen without your generous support. A special welcome to our newest sponsor, Mr Sold.
Finally, I’d like to thank my fellow indefatigable Featherston Booktown Trustees - Liz Mellish, Noelle McCarthy, Kate Mead, Mary McCallum, Lesley Christian, Cheryl Gallaway and Ross Vickery - along with our Patron, Joy Cowley, and Founding Kaumatua, Lincoln Gould.
A thousand thanks to Operations Manager, Mary Biggs, and her wonderful team, including our outstanding volunteers.
Enjoy Featherston Booktown 2021! Ha waahi nui! Manuia!
Peter Biggs
Chair: Featherston Booktown Trust
Thank you to Our Sponsors and Supporters
Key Partners
Acorn Trust
Adamsons Mobil Service Station
Featherston Law
Featherston Library & Wairarapa Library Service
Patrons
PLATINUM
Joy Cowley
Faith Wrigley
Liz Stringer
M&P Biggs CNZM
JR Matthews Trust
SILVER
100% Proof Red
Caroline Peren
Julie Lewis of Small Business Matters
A Hannah & D Goulding of Tauherenikau River BnB
GOLD
F&M Donald
Jo Beetham QSM
Friends of Featherston Booktown 2020 & 2021
Adrienne Staples
Alan Duff
Alan Wendt
Ali Ward of Rawdons
Andrew Morrison and Deborah Barratt
Andrew Wright
Anne Hannah & Darrin Goulding
Anne Hynds and Derek McCluskie
Bobby-Joe Wilson and Brian King
Bowen Galleries
Christine and David Kernohan
Christopher Finlayson
Craig Linkhorn
David & Jenny Hedley - Hedley’s Bookshop
Don and Carol Duffy
D Borshcheva
EJ Fitzmaurice
Elizabeth Patchett & John Taber
Ella & Felix Hallwass
Emma McCleary of Emma Makes
Ernst & Virginia Kunz – Underhill Cottage
Finom Limited
Flora’s Kitchen
Garrick Emms & Marguerite Tait-Jamieson
Gerald Hensley CNZM
Graham & Liz Mellish MNZM
GJ & R Burnard
Jane Keig
JL & LJ Adler
Joanna and Julian Ludbrook
John Broeren
John McKinney
Jules Le Loir
Julie Lewis
Karen Commons of The Le Vailla
Leigh Catley and Stephen Morris
Linda Clark
Lisa Adler
Liz Fitzmaurice
Lydia Wevers ONZM
Margie and Fraser Donald
Margie Sharpe
May McLeod
Megan Campbell
Millie Blackwell of Mrs Blackwell’s Village Bookshop
Nicholas Biggs
Nik Rilkoff
Paora Ammunsen
Paul & Mary Mason
Pete Roberts
Peter Biggs
Peter Whiteford
Ra Smith
Richard and Sue Byrne
Richard Langston
Robyn Cornford
Romain Busby
Russell & Suzann Pearless
Scilla Askew and Robert
Sharleen Forbes
Steve Laurence
Sue Lazarus
Susan Hooper
Susan Ryan of Mr Feather’s Den
Te Maire Tau
...and a sincere thank you to our many presenters, volunteers
and book-loving Featherston Community for their ongoing support!
Featherston's Bookstores
For full details about our town's seven all year round bookmongers, visit our Bookstores page.