The Featherston Booktown Podcast

Te Tiriti o Waitangi remains as important today as it did when it was first signed 184 years ago, but how can Aotearoa honour it, what are the key challenges and where do tangata whenua stand? Papawai Marae kaumātua Paora Ammunson (Ngāti Kahungunu/Rangitāne) welcomed the Featherston Booktown audience and Tāme Iti (Ngāi Tūhoe, Waikato, Te Arawa), Moana Maniapoto (Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) and Te...

The murders of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe in their Pukekawa farmhouse in 1970 remains Aotearoa New Zealand’s most famous cold case. It spawned two trials, two appeals, a Royal Commission finding of police corruption and a free pardon, and still the killer has not been found. Journalists Kirsty Johnston and James Hollings conducted their own investigation in their new book The Crewe Murders and tal...

Liv Sisson ( Fungi of Aotearoa ) and Zach Cotogni ( Blue Honey ) are on a mission to show Aotearoa New Zealand how important fungi are for the mental and physical health of human beings and the health of the planet. From lichen to psilocybin, they explored the world of mushrooms with renowned forager Helen Lehndorf ( A Forager’s Life ). This episode was recorded at the 2024 Featherston Booktown Ka...

If anyone in Aotearoa New Zealand deserves the description polymath (a person of wide knowledge and learning), it is Gregory O’Brien.  Not only did Gregory win at this years Ockham awards, for best illustrated non-fiction with Don Binney: Flight Path, this poet, artist, art curator, and writer of fiction and non-fiction, also flew to Manchester, UK to set up an exhibition of his artwork. He has re...

The left is at a crossroads in New Zealand – the Labour Party struggles to be relevant while the radical left gathers strength in other parties. Do lefties want the traditional face of the Labour Party anymore? How do the Greens and Te Pāti Māori present themselves as credible options to govern? John Campbell asked the hard questions of trade unionist Craig Renney, activist and CEO of Childfund Jo...

This week, Shane Te Pou and Phil Quin sat down with musician/teacher/local legend - Featherston’s own Warren Maxwell.   Warren has made a significant contribution to music both in New Zealand and internationally as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and a driving force behind many musical projects including Trinity Roots, Fat Freddy's Drop and Little Bushman. Warren is also a longtime friend...

The murder of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe in their Pukekawa farmhouse in 1970 remains Aotearoa New Zealand’s most famous cold case. It spawned two trials, two appeals, a Royal commission finding of police corruption and a free pardon, and still the killer has not been found. Journalists Kirsty Johnston and James Hollings conducted their own investigation in their new book The Crewe Murders. Kirsty...

Dame Susan Elizabeth Anne Devoy is a New Zealand former squash player and senior public servant. As a squash player, she was dominant in the late 1980s and early 1990s, winning the World Open on four occasions. She served as New Zealand's Race Relations Commissioner from 2013 to 2018. Her new book ‘Dame Susy D’ is out now from Allen & Unwin. Dame Susan is the Guest Speaker for the Fish’n’...

As a word, “activism” is only about 100 years old – yet activists and movements for change have become a regular feature of social, civic, and political life in the 21st century. However, activism is about human beings motivating and confronting other human beings to change, thereby being a fundamental human activity. Four prominent Aotearoa New Zealand activists, Denis O’Reilly, Dame Catherine He...

Catherine Chidgey has been one of this country's leading fiction writers for a quarter of a century, producing novels that are both provocative and sublime, starting with In a Fishbone Church and including two novels set in Nazi Germany. Her Ockham Book Awards shortlisted book The Axeman's Carnival, has astonished readers with its magpie narrator and been called a 'Kiwi Gothic class...

Pasifika voices are among the most powerful in Aotearoa's New Zealand literary scene – original, provocative, funny, uplifting and heart-breaking. Four leading Pasifika writers – Victor Rodger, Nafanua Purcell Kersel, Tusiata Avia and Gina Cole – came together to at the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival in May 2023 read their own work and riff with host Makerita Urale. This audio and vi...

November the 5th is a day of grief for Hon. Mahara Okeroa and Ockham Book Awards shortlisted author Rachel Buchanan, whose tūpuna were on the whenua when the Crown troops descended; a day of shame for Richard Shaw, whose great-grandfather was with the armed constabulary; a day of knowledge for academic Vincent O’Malley, who seeks to find the truth behind the records; and a day of atonement for for...

Late at night is when poets come to life and are at their best.  Now you can re-live some of the best poets and poetry in Aotearoa NZ – Poet Laureate Chris Tse, Sam Duckor-Jones, Rachel Buchanan, Debbie Broughton and Frankie Leota captured during their performance at Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival in May this year.  https://www.booktown.org.nz/

In this episode, Phil Quin talks to Andrea Vance, author of 'Blue Blood: The Inside Story of the National Party in Crisis.' Andrea Vance is a senior journalist at Stuff. Born in Northern Ireland, she worked in the Press Gallery at the New Zealand Parliament for nearly a decade, first with Stuff and then TVNZ. She spent seven years as an investigative journalist with the News of the World...

Roger Steele ONZM is a nearly retired publisher on the Kāpiti Coast. Over 25-odd years his company launched hundreds of fine writers and safeguarded a great deal of Aotearoa’s national treasure. His first published book was J.C. Sturm’s poems, and his last will be her collected works, later this year. Roger talks with Shane and Phil about his publishing experiences and what the future may hold for...

Sam Duckor-Jones is an artist & writer formerly of the Wairarapa, now of the West Coast.  He has published two poetry collections with THWUP & shows regularly with Bowen Galleries. His current project is the immersive public sculpture Gloria of Greymouth. Sam will be appearing at multiple events during the Karukatea Festival, including Late Night Lit: The Mansfield Mash-up, Late Night Lit:...

Ryan Cahill is an Epic Fantasy author from Dublin, Ireland, now residing in New Zealand. His book series 'The Bound and The Broken' have sold over 100,000 copies worldwide. Ryan talks with Shane and Phil about how he forged his path as a writer and found success by doing things his way. Ryan Cahill will be appearing at Featherston Booktown as part of the 'Other Worlds - Sci-fi and F...

In this episode, Shane Te Pou and Phil Quin talk to Featherston Booktown Operations Manager Mary Biggs about some of the highlights of the 2023 Festival programme. The Festival Programme can be found at: https://www.booktown.org.nz/ Tickets available HERE. Produced by Denver Grenell & Phil Quin for Featherston Booktown.  Engineered by Huck Jackson at Radio Waatea. Edited by Denver Grenell. Mus...

Hosts Shane Te Pou and Phil Quin talk to the legendary Shayne P. Carter (Straitjacket Fits, Dimmer) about his career in music and his writing process. Shayne will join broadcaster and Ockham Book Awards short-listed author Nick Bollinger and Featherston musician extraordinaire Warren Maxwell (Trinity Roots, Little Bushman) for 'Notes on the Page: Writing Music' at Featherston Booktown Ka...