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WORDS IN THE LIBRI LOUNGE
Graeme Lay
Aotearoa/New Zealand
Historians have long- pondered the personal
nature of the famous navigator, Captain
James Cook, but for two and half centuries
he has remained something of an enigma.
Novelist Graeme Lay re-imagines the peerless
navigator’s early life in his fictionalised account,
The Secret Life of James Cook, drawing on
his personal knowledge of the South Pacific
and Australasia to provide a fascinating
re-assessment of Cook’s relationship with
his colleagues and his wife, Elizabeth.
In Lay’s novel, each night Cook writes a very private
letter to his wife filled with colourful accounts
of the explorations, surveys, relationships and
observations of his crew and life on board the
Endeavour. The mysterious Elizabeth destroyed
all his letters towards the end of her life.
A full-time writer, editor and reviewer,
Graeme Lay has written prolifically, including
short stories, young adult fiction and travel
writing, and has won numerous awards.
WHEN
Sun 25 Aug, 2pm
WHERE
Libri Lounge, Alexander Room, TSB Showplace
DURATION
60 minutes no interval
ADMISSION service fees apply
General Admission $15 - includes glass of wine, beer or juice
Laurent Binet
France
Laurent Binet is one of France’s most praised new
young novelists. His first novel, HHhH, was hailed
a masterpiece by American novelist, Bret Easton
Ellis, and won the 2010 Prix Goncourt du Premiere
Roman (The Goncourt Prize – First Novel).
HHhH is an acronym of Himmlers Hirn heisst
Heydrich (Himmler’s brain is called Heydrich),
a quip about Heydrich said to have circulated
in Nazi Germany. The novel recounts the
assassination of Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich
in 1942, tracing the history of the operation
and the life of its protagonists – Heydrich and
his assassins Jozef Gabc̬ik and Jan Kubiš.
In 2012, Binet published a literary political
portrait, Rien Ne Se Passé Comme Prévu
(Nothing Happens as Predicted), a behindthe-scenes
account of the successful
presidential campaign of François Hollande.
The son of an historian, Binet, a Parisian,
has a degree in Literature and teaches
French at the University of Saint-Denis.
Image: Matthew Lay
WHEN
Sat 31 Aug, 11am
WHERE
Bryan Robb Lounge, TSB Showplace
DURATION
60 minutes no interval
ADMISSION service fees apply
General Admission $15
- includes coffee and biscuit
Supported by
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