Tauranga Arts Festival’s tenth anniversary programme offers a line-up of writers and speakers with plenty of appeal. Hopping the Tasman from Australia are Kate Grenville, author of the much-loved historical Secret River trilogy and more recently non-fiction about her mother and this year’s The Case Against Fragrance, and surfing writer Phil Jarratt. Kate has a session on her own on Saturday, October 21 and the next day joins Stephen Daisley (Coming Rain) and Catherine Chidgey (The Wish Chil d) to talk to Kate De Goldi about literary fiction in Australia and New Zealand. Stephen, by the way, is a Kiwi who lives near Perth but who’s the current Randell Cottage writer in residence in Wellington. Stephen pairs with Catherine to talk about their Acorn Foundation prize books on October 21 – he won the inaugural prize in 2016 and she this year’s award. At $50,000 it’s the country’s richest literary prize. Phil Jarratt has been surfing for nigh-on 55 years and writing abo...

  The full programme for this year’s Escape! festival in Tauranga, New Zealand, is being launched on April 27, although tickets to three shows – two of them with a food theme – go on general sale tomorrow ( April 19 )   “We are breaking with tradition by putting tickets on general sale before the programme launch,” Escape! director Claire Mabey says, “but we know these performances will create a buzz and decided to help people plan their long weekend by opening sales on Tuesday, April 19.”   The books-focused festival, under the umbrella of the biennial Tauranga Arts Festival, takes place from June 3-6 (Queen’s Birthday weekend). Peter Gordon, whose new book Savour is published on May 2, will be in conversation with Jesse Mulligan, restaurant reviewer for Viva ( NZ Herald ) and Afternoons host on Radio NZ, on Saturday, June 4. The Whanganui-born chef – who created his first cookbook aged 4 –   owns two restaurants each in London and A...