Click through to find out about the events held in Wellington for New Zealand Authors' Week in 1936. Organised by PEN (Poets, Essayists, Novelists), the literary festival was held in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin and, on a smaller scale in Timaru and Nelson. The programme included lectures and exhibitions about New Zealand writers and books as well as performances of local music and plays. The national committee worked closely with local and international booksellers, libraries and private collectors to create a programme that would educate the public about New Zealand writers and writing. The Wellington programme included a lecture by Joseph Heenan, where he argued that Herbert Guthrie-Smith's Tutira was New Zealand's greatest book. The programme also included poetry and song, featuring Māori waiata.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference:
New Zealand Authors' week: April 17th to 24th, 1936. Wellington: PEN, 1936 (B-K-1095-Cover; B-K-1095-1; B-K-1095-2; B-K-1095-3)
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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