Festival Finale 

Sunday 25 May, 10:30am
CHB Museum, Waipawa

Join us for a celebration of local talent, featuring authors Shelley Burne-Field, Nafanua Purcell Kersel, Simon Burt, and Between The Lines Patron Charity Norman. This free annual event is the perfect way to close the festival, offering a delightful opportunity to hear from some of our most cherished local writers.

​

Ex-barrister Charity Norman was born in Uganda, raised and worked in the UK, and now calls Central Hawke’s Bay home. Her eight novels to date include BBC Radio 2, Richard and Judy and World Book Night titles, Ned Kelly and Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists, and have been translated into various languages. Her seventh, Remember Me, won Best Novel in the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards. Charity lives by the Tukituki river with her husband and two warring cats, and is delighted to be Patron of the Between the Lines Festival.

​​

Nafanua Purcell Kersell (Satupa‘itea, Faleālupo, Aleipata, Tuaefu) is a writer, poet and performer who was born in Sāmoa and raised in Te-Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa. Her poetry has been widely published. She has an MA from the IIML and won the 2022 IIML Biggs Family Prize in Poetry for Black Sugarcane. Nafanua’s debut poetry collection Black Sugarcane has been described as “A radiant celebration of the heart and soul of Pacific life, language and legacy”. Reviewer Gina Cole went on to say that Nafanua “weaves emotion, culture and wit into words that hit you like a wave - sometimes gentle, sometimes crashing, but always leaving you bathed in feeling”.

​​

Shelley Burne-Field is an award winning children’s novelist, short story, poetry and non-fiction writer who lives in Central Hawke’s Bay. She was the emerging Māori writer in residence at Victoria University in 2024. Her first novel, ‘Brave Kāhu and the Pōrangi Magpie’ was shortlisted in the 2024 Storylines and Booklovers awards. Shelley’s second book will be published in May 2025. ‘Kimi the Kekeno’s Big Adventure’ is a warm and wonderful tale about a group of New Zealand fur-seals that embark on an exciting sea journey up the east coast of the north island. Kimi the kekeno dodges sharks, meets a bobble-headed gigantic squid, and finally discovers his life-long dream. Kimi is on the biggest adventure of his young life. Both children’s novels were written for middle-grade readers 7-12 years old.

​

Simon Burt spent nearly half a century in film, advertising, publishing, writing, and web development, with a little bit of school teaching along the way. Now all he wants to do is scribble stuff! Route 52 was published in 2025 and Simon’s personal observations about people, places, and things on and around the back road between Masterton and Waipukurau have hit the mark with Route 52 reaching number 1 in the Nielsen Bookscan. Simon has a wife and two adult offspring, and a Fox Terrier called Meg.

This is a FREE event but tickets are limited so be sure to reserve your ticket now.