The visiting authors for the Whanganui Literary Festival are a varied group. They include Hinemoa Elder, a youth forensic psychiatrist, Mary Holm, a financial agony aunt, and Kyle Mewburn. Kyle is an Australian author, resident in Otago, who has nearly 50 books in the picture book and junior fiction genres to her name. But at the Literary Festival she will talk about her journey of transformation from a man to a woman.
"Many literary festivals have a theme," explains Whanganui Literary Festival Trust Chair, Mary-Ann Ewing, "but we bill ourselves as a 'lifestyle' festival. We try to offer something for everyone." She goes on to explain how at past festivals non-readers have attended a session by a sportswriter or some such, have stayed on for other events and bought books. What will these three bring to their Whanganui audiences? Keynote speaker, Hinemoa Elder will discuss her book, Aroha, which examines the ways in which our well-being and the earth are interconnected, and how Maori wisdom can provide a healing process for us all. This talk takes place after the Gala Opening at 7.30pm on Friday, February 25.
The following day at 11.30am, Mary Holm takes us from the metaphysical to the material needs of our lives. Her wise financial advice has been appreciated by many New Zealanders. Her talk will be based on some of the topics found in her latest book, A Richer You, and she will also discuss her key messages for working money "magic".
Kyle Mewburn's earlier life was spent as a male, and she felt like a fake most of the time. Living as a boy in the conservative Brisbane of the 1960s and '70s, she never felt comfortable. As she deftly puts it, in her memoir, 'Faking it: My life in transition', she felt like 'strawberry jam in a spinach can'. Hiding her true identity for decades finally took its toll, and she decided it was time to be the real Kyle. Her book has been described as honest, unsentimental and inspiring, and Kyle will tell her story on Saturday, February 26 at 10am.
