Discoveries on Thursday at the Writers' Festival

The first session this morning with Geoff Dyer was very funny. I didn't know about him but North Shore Libraries does have some of his books. He is a travel writer, a columnist and a novelist who makes his readers work hard. His titles are carefully chosen to give clues about the book's content; for example Yoga for people who can't be bothered to do it and his latest Jeff in Venice, death in Varanasi which is made up of two parts with no narrative links but containing little clues and pointers to enhance the reader's understanding of the story. He was intellectual and witty and chairperson Emily Perkins was his equal.

Kamila Shamsie, author of Burnt shadows, is my choice for "best at the festival".

She has written four previous novels, collectively referred to as the Karachi novels, in which she explores the powerful legacies in the history of Pakistan; politics, war, love, family, food, flora, language, religion  and gender. Burnt shadows is an international novel, an epic narrative - a very readable one that spans 5 continents and 60 decades relating the experiences of one woman affected, indeed buffeted, by a series of historical events from Nagasaki in 1945 to 9/11 in 2001.
Kamila talked about her books and her life with Kate de Goldi for an hour that passed so quickly. She was engaging, articulate, perceptive and a worthy nominee for the Orange Prize.

Further impressions from Thursday

• Margot Lanagan shocked many in the audience
• Bill Manhire's poetry reading was moving
• Peter Singer got a full house and had many followers in his audience
• At 12 o'clock I was on Freyburg Beach in the hot sun but by 2 o'clock after the next session it was raining and my feet were cold: guess I'll remember the first two blue sky days!