TALKING BOOKS WITH EMILY PERKINS

Image: Emily Perkins is interviewed by Katherine Mansfield House & Garden Director Cherie Jacobson. Photograph by Stephen A'Court.

 

On Tuesday 3 September 2024 we hosted award-winning writer Emily Perkins for a memorable fundraising event to support Katherine Mansfield House & Garden. As well as writing fiction and for the stage and screen, Emily has long been a champion of reading. From 2009 to 2012 she hosted TVNZ’s The Good Word, a series about “books and the people who love them.” She is an experienced teacher of creative writing and chair of literary festival events. Her most recent novel, Lioness, has received widespread acclaim and won the 2024 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction. 

Below are some of the books Emily mentioned during her conversation with Katherine Mansfield House & Garden Director Cherie Jacobson.

 

Childhood Books

Miffy, Dick Bruna

A Lion in the Meadow, Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Jenny Williams

The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Judith Kerr

The Brothers Lionheart, Astrid Lindgren

The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis

Anne of Green Gables series, L.M. Montgomery

Little House on the Prairie series, Laura Ingalls Wilder

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Judith Kerr

The Endless Steppe, Esther Hautzig

I Am David, Ann Holm

Little Women series, Louisa May Alcott

 

Teenage years

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (play), My Darling, My Hamburger, Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball!, Paul Zindel 

The Alexandria Quartet, Lawrence Durrell (the off-limits books on Mum’s bookshelves!)

Also from Mum’s bookshelves: Iris Murdoch, Margaret Drabble, Kurt Vonnegut, Lisa Alther, John Irving, Fay Weldon, Marilyn French…

And from the 4^th form contraband network: Judith Krantz, Shirley Conran, Virginia Andrews

 

Emily trained at Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School and recommends the Nola Miller Library at Toi Whakaari as a source of playscripts.

 

Adaptations for screen

Cranford, a TV series adapted from three Elizabeth Gaskell novellas published between 1849 and 1858: Cranford, My Lady Ludlow and Mr Harrison's Confessions

The Talented Mr Ripley film directed by Anthony Minghella (1999), Ripley TV series directed by Steven Zaillian (2024)

Under the Skin, directed by Jonathan Glazer (2013), adapted from the Michel Faber novel

 

Non-fiction

Annie Ernaux

Janet Malcolm

 

Recent reads

Stone Yard Devotional, Charlotte Wood

Audition, Pip Adam

Ash, Louise Wallace

Whaea Blue, Talia Marshall

Absolution, Alice McDermott

 

Classics

Howard’s End, E.M. Forster

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton

Portrait of a Lady, Henry James

Washington Square, Henry James

Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

Persuasion, Jane Austen

 

Katherine Mansfield favourites

‘Bliss’

‘Psychology’

‘A Dill Pickle’

‘Je ne parle pas français’ 

Emily is a self-described ‘KM nut’ who found Mansfield’s creative life inspiring as a Wellington teenager and has written the foreword of a popular edition of Mansfield’s collected stories by Text Publishing.

 

Bookmarks on RNZ

Emily recently appeared on Bookmarks during Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan on RNZ National. Listen here to find out some of her favourite songs, TV shows, podcasts and, of course, books!

 

Huge thanks to Emily for being such a wonderful guest. Emily spoke passionately about the importance of the arts in Aotearoa and places like Katherine Mansfield House & Garden that safeguard and celebrate the creativity that enriches our lives. Special thanks to Hunter's Wines who sponsored the delicious MiruMiru™ bubbles, Samuel Marsden Collegiate School who hosted us, the sponsors of our raffle prizes Prefab, Gipps Street Deli, La Petite Chocolate, The Thistle Inn, and Wellington Apothecary, and our audience who always have excellent questions! This was our major fundraiser for the year so we are very grateful to everyone who supported it. Donations of any amount are gratefully received at any time of year and contributes to the care and maintenance of our Category 1 Historic Place and our collection. You can donate here.