The second weekend in May saw the population of Featherston swell with book lovers from all corners of New Zealand. This was the sixth annual booktown festival and was made particularly special because 2020’s line-up was cancelled due to Covid-19. With 55 events and 99 presenters, the programme was a logistical feat and, as an ambassador for the town, it was a huge joy to see a community of bookish folk come together for the weekend.

The opening event was the Fish ‘n’ Chip supper on Thursday night held in Featherston’s historic ANZAC Hall. I found myself solving literary crosswords with a group from Blenheim and talking to a Kiwi publisher about the book-buying habits of New Zealanders. (Apparently Romance is the way to go if you want to set yourself up as an author!) I don’t know what the collective noun for volunteers is, but a host of them soon came out of the kitchen bearing coleslaw, sauces and huge trays of fish and chips. They managed to serve 250 people with humour and efficiency in this sold-out event and, although the food was fantastic, the best was yet to come.

After supper, New Zealand’s former Poet Laureate and best-selling author of Mophead, Selina Tusitala Marsh, blazed onto the stage. A commanding and thoroughly engaging presence, over the course of an hour she brought her poetry to life, weaving magic with her words and leaving the audience spell-bound. I think her reading of her poem Unity, that was written and performed for Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey, will stay with me forever. Somehow, in the space of a few stanzas she circled from the Pacific Islands, through the ocean currents to the honey bee, pulling chaos theory into poetry;

We’re connected by currents of humanity

alliances, allegiances, histories

for the salt in the sea, like the salt in our blood

like the dust of our bones, our final return to mud

~ From Unity by Selina Tusitala Marsh

The next day, following a rather special Bookstagram event, I was able to listen to the author of one of my favourite books from 2020. Rose Lu wrote All Who Live on Islands, a collection of essays where she explores her cultural identity and melds English with Chóngmíng dialect. Bubbling with genuine enthusiasm, she gave some fantastic insights into her work and the development of her writing style over the course of her MA in Creative Writing. She also chatted about how her family and friends, many of whom feature in her book, have taken to being portrayed in her writing!

After Rose’s talk, I walked out onto Featherston’s main street. There were groups of people carrying tote bags full of books, literary quotes on windows, bunting flapping from awnings and a blues band playing outside Loco Coffee and Books. Fuelled by an Espresso Martini from Brac N Bow (the sun was well past the yard arm somewhere and it had been a very early start!) I plotted a route around Featherston’s seven bookshops and the twenty booksellers with stalls in the ANZAC hall. My two favourite finds of the day were; Tightrope, a volume of Selina Tusitala Marsh’s poetry and a Folio Society edition of The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. I ended the day with sore feet, a burgeoning book bag and a very happy heart. I know that I am biased, but if you want to go to a literary festival with a real sense of community, of playfulness and creativity, then make sure you head to Featherston Booktown Festival 2022. I’ll see you there ~ I’ll be the one grinning with a stack of books in one hand and an espresso martini in the other!