The judges praised Blood Men, which was set in Christchurch, as a "gruesomely gripping story told in clean, sharp prose, with authentically laconic dialogue and flashes of dark humour". Cleave said it was the first time in six years of being published that he felt like he was being taken seriously in New Zealand. Cleave has sold 600,000 books in 19 countries, but only a tiny fraction of those sales were in New Zealand.
I really enjoyed being a judge for the Ngaio Marsh Award, particularly for being introduced to so many great new to me writers. I want to thank Craig Sisterson for all he does for Kiwi Crime and for including me in the judging.
On another Kiwi note in relationship to the Ngaio Marsh Awards, Alix Bosco's (author of shortlisted Slaughter Falls), true identiy was revealed in the Sunday Star-Times last week. Acclaimed playwright, TV screenwriter, and former Junior All Black Greg McGee 'came out' as Alix Bosco in a large feature in the Star-Times. Read the article HERE.
3 comments:
I was lucky enough to be in Christchurch and attend the event. Tess Gerritsen and John Hart both spoke. It was very well done, especially considering it has been only six months from the worst national disaster in New Zealand's history.
Janet,I'll have to look for these books. I love the true identity story!
Warren, you're right. My sister lives in New Zealand and she's been telling me about what the people of Christchurch have been going through. She lives in an unaffected area of NZ.
Bobbi Mumm
http://bobbimumm.com
It was a great event, and great to see you there Warren.
Hopefully it's just a sign of bigger and better things to come, in terms of Kiwi crime fiction, and crime fiction events/festivals etc in New Zealand.
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