Reviewing the April celebration of Book Month in Rotorua

March 2013 has gone for ever – but the impact of Rotorua’s WriteUp Here in 2013 ~ celebrating New Zealand Book Month, Rotorua-style will be cause for reflection over the coming months as those involved review the programme and consider next year’s.

For now though, let’s rejoice in what was an on-going celebration, involving hundreds of Rotorua residents of all ages, as writers or readers – or both.

Spectacular in its wide range of book-related events to suit all tastes and interests was Rotorua Library where staff saw to it that visitors couldn’t help but be aware that it was New Zealand Book Month. We’re lucky to have a library so supportive of its residents – and interestingly, many of the events through NZBM are on-going, like the Library Live programme.

The Daily Post did us proud throughout the month with continual references, information and news and a magnificent two-page spread on Tuesday April 2 when some of the QuickWrites were published.

Now it’s time to carry some of those 50+ contributions on our social media sites. Because typing the hand-written contributions takes time, these will be progressively loaded onto our sites as they become available.

Following the QuickWrite Writers Forum, Take Note in Rotorua’s Central Mall hosted a festival of children’s books with a focus on Rotorua author Natalie Newson’s three books, Morepork the Babysitter, Tarawera’s Pink Terrace Children and All Aboard for Antarctica. Her nonagenarian father Roy Tucker, a non-retiring writer poet and actor himself, read some of the stories while performing poets Nan Miller and Kay McGregor assisted and also read from books in stock. Children’s eyes were alight, even more so when store manager Heather distributed gifts to each child and the Mall’s Baker’s Delight Bakery passed round tastes of Hot Cross Buns.

The following week Books’n’Baths featured both the freshly refurbished spa therapy facilities at QE Health and Hospital on a Hotspot, the recently published history of Queen Elizabeth Hospital from 1942, when it was established as the Services Convalescent Hospital.

Author, historian Susan Butterworth joined the nearly-40 guests as did Alison Masters, retired archivist at QEH and author of Ghosts, an affectionate memoir. Copies of both books were available at the function during which there were few formalities and much time for informal chat.

Guests included Ynys Fraser, the nonagenarian daughter of Dr Stan Wallis, QE Hospital’s first medical superintendent and authors and local historians, staff members and many Rotorua people with considerable affection for QE Hospital. Susan and her historian husband Graham were guest speakers the following evening at an in-house training session for over 20 Rotorua Museum docents.

Tauranga tutor Jenny Argante wound up Rotorua’s Book Month events with a fully-subscribed, day-long workshop on memoir writing.