Enchantment for sharing

Children’s writer Margaret Mahy, recipient of the Carnegie Medal for Children’s Literature, the Hans Christian Andersen Medal and a host of other awards, says the shared experience of a parent reading to a child is precious. Her new young adult novel, The Magician of Hoad, was released last month after a writing process that took two decades. It is a mythical yarn about an innocent farm boy who can read minds, leading him to advise the king of a war-torn land. She has just read the first published copy. “I knew parts of it very well, of course, but it almost felt like I was reading someone else’s book for the first time. That’s quite a unique experience for a writer. Once your book is printed, it takes on a different identity. But after all these years, I still enjoy seeing my name on the cover. I study it carefully to remind myself that I was the one who wrote the book.” Mahy is a member of the Order of New Zealand. She lives on Banks Peninsula.


Tags: Margaret Mahy  Sydney Morning Herald (The)  

Amy Brown’s New Novel Inspired by Women and Art

Amy Brown’s New Novel Inspired by Women and Art

Like many writers before her, New Zealand-born Amy Brown takes inspiration from the Australian feminist icon Stella Maria Miles Franklin in her captivating debut novel My Brilliant Sister – but instead…