Bestselling author Josie Shapiro at Queenstown Writers Festival
Josie Shapiro is the bestselling author of Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts, which won the inaugural Allen & Unwin Fiction Prize and was named one of the best books of 2023 by The Spinoff and The New Zealand Listener.
She is appearing at Queenstown Writers Festival with her just released second novel, Good Things Come and Go - a novel about friendship and betrayal, ambition and grief, and an ode to the courage of taking risks no matter the consequences.
Why a career in creative writing?
The easy answer is I wasn't talented enough to do anything, the more honest answer is I have never desired to do anything else as much as I've wanted to write
What book do you wish you’d written?
Difficult to narrow this down, as I am such a fan and in awe of so many writers. But if I had written either Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel or Breath by Tim Winton, I would be a happy lady.
Which writers dead or alive would you take on a road trip across Aotearoa?
I'm thinking Annie Proulx, George Saunders, Geoff Dyer, Claire Vaye Watkins, Patrick deWitt, Alain de Botton, Jasmine Ward, Ottessa Moshfegh, Brandon Taylor and Miriam Toews. With this number of people we would require a minivan or even a bus, and I suspect it could be a wild roadie.
What books do you read to your tamariki?
We read everything we can get our hands on! Right now they are 11 and 9, and can read independently, though we all still love story time together. Books currently in rotation for both girls are Rachael King's Violet and the Velvets series, R.A. Spratt's Friday Barnes series, and, separately, The Lord of the Rings for my eldest daughter and The Halfmen of O for my youngest.
Where did Mickey, the protagonist in your first novel come from?
She is a bit of a mixed breed. A bit of me, a bit of imagination, a bit of magic. The writing of the novel began with the first 800 words of the book, just an unnamed female protagonist standing at the start line of the Auckland Marathon, and it was during the writing of the book that she revealed herself to me.
What’s your coffee order?
Double shot flat white, no sugar, for my first coffee; after that, long black with cream.
What are you looking forward to during QWF?
I am looking forward to the Gala Night. I always love events like this, multiple writers speaking on one night, telling short tales that can be moving or funny or sometimes both. This will be the first time I am on the bill for a Festival Opening night, too. I am terrified and tremendously excited to be involved!
Josie will be in conversation with Queenstown writer Bethany Rogers at 1pm, on Saturday, November 1, at Te Atamira. Tickets are available at qtwritersfestival.nz.
