Triple helping of literary visitors

SIGRID ESTRADA

LEE CHILD: His visit to Nelson will coincide with the release of the 14th Jack Reacher novel.

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Nelson book lovers are in for a rare triple treat, with three big international names from the world of books heading to the city for public engagements over the next couple of months.

Included in the lineup are Lee Child, the creator of the multimillion-selling Jack Reacher series, and one of the world's most popular thriller writers; Elizabeth Kostova, the author of, among others, the 2005 bestseller The Historian (promoted as the book that knocked The Da Vinci Code off the top of the American bestseller charts); and Australian cartoonist-philosopher-poet Michael Leunig.

Kostova is the first of the trio to visit the city, and will be speaking at a function at the Elma Turner Library on the afternoon of Sunday, March 7. She is touring to promote her new book, The Swan Thieves, and her visit to Nelson is one of only three public appearances she will make in New Zealand – in part because of a family connection to the city, according to the event's co-organiser, Stella Chrysostomou of Page & Blackmore Booksellers.

Leunig will be in Nelson in mid-March to speak at a psychotherapy conference and has also agreed to speak at a public event, scheduled for Friday, March 19, at the NMIT student centre from 6.30pm. The long-time cartoonist for Melbourne newspaper The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald has produced numerous books of his offbeat observations of humanity and various small creatures.

Perhaps the biggest name of the three, Lee Child, will be in town on April 14, talking about his famous creation, the Jack Reacher series, with his visit coinciding with the release of the 14th Reacher novel, 61 Hours.

Publishers Random House say that Child sells more books per-capita in New Zealand than almost anywhere, so a big audience is anticipated when he appears at the Boathouse on Wakefield Quay from 6pm.

As with the Leunig and Kostova events, Child's visit to Nelson has been co-organised by Page & Blackmore. Ms Chrysostomou said the fact Nelson was starting to attract name writers reflected in part the bookshop's profile and relationship with publishing companies, but also the strong support shown by the public to a couple of English authors who visited the city on publicity tours last year. Such events helped to build "an interesting and vibrant" literary scene, she said.

• Details on all three events are available from Page & Blackmore.

- © Fairfax NZ News