Write On Radio

It's Write On Radio Show day today, noon, on Toroa Radio 1575kHz AM.

This week marks the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago. Dunedin has been invaded by a host of past Fellows who are involved in talks during the week, and the Burns festival this weekend. The full programme for the festival, Nurse to the Imagination, can be found here.

Get along to as many events as possible. Almost every living Burns Fellow is in the city for the festival, so it is a unique opportunity to listen to the cream of New Zealand's literary community.

For Write On I'll be interviewing two former Robert Burns Fellows who have had works published in recent weeks.


Dr Philip Temple is a highly accomplished and versatile writer, whose list of achievements includes over 40 books published, receiving a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement, being made an ONZM for services to literature and has been the recipient of numerous writing fellowships, including the Robert Burns Fellowship.

We will be talking about the recent new editions of two of his books, Beak of the Moon which was a bestselling novel in 1981 and Presenting New Zealand: an Illustrated History. Both of these books contained considerable re-writes in light of new research, and in Presenting New Zealand, new illustrations.

We'll also talk about the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Robert Burns Fellowship which Philip has been involved in organising.


Paddy Richardson is also a past Robert Burns Fellow, and has had recently released her second novel, a psychological crime thriller A Year to Learn a Woman. This is a departure from her previous novel and collections of short stories. We talk about the book, and why crime?