Come and celebrate The Real Halloween with seasonally-appropriate readings from local authors. Scorpio Books will be open late for this special event.

Inspired by The Food Farm’s practice of celebrating Halloween in late April, the equivalent of late October for the Northern Hemisphere, we’ve put together a line-up of readers to help get you into an autumnal mood. Scorpio’s very own Isabelle Taylor will read from her new fantasy romance novel Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf (book one of the Claw Haven series). Kerry Donovan Brown, author of magic realism novel Lamplighter (2014), will read from their new science fiction fantasy novel. Isla Huia, author of Talia (2023, shortlisted for the Ockham NZ Book Awards), will read from her forthcoming poetry collection due out in July with Dead Bird Books. And finally, Angela Clifford and Nick Gill of The Food Farm will share some pearls of wisdom about what happens on the farm at this time of year.

All welcome, drinks and nibbles provided. Free event.

About the authors

Isabelle Taylor writes sweet, steamy fantasy romance. She works in a bookstore in New Zealand and has a Creative Writing Masters from the International Institute of Modern Letters.

Kerry Donovan Brown is the author of the novel Lamplighter (2014), which won the prestigious Adam Prize from the International Institute of Modern Letters in 2012. Kerry grew up in Waikuku Beach, North Canterbury. Their work has also appeared in Out Here: An Anthology of Takatāpui and LGBTQIA+ Writers from Aotearoa (2021).

Isla Huia (Te Āti Haunui a-Pāpārangi, Uenuku) is a te reo Māori teacher and kaituhi from Ōtautahi. Her debut collection of poetry, Talia, was released in May 2023 by Dead Bird Books, and was shortlisted for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2024. Her work was also featured in the International Institute of Modern Letters’ Ōrongohau Best New Zealand Poems in both 2023 and 2024, and has been published in journals and anthologies throughout Aotearoa as well. Most recently, she has had work included in Shot | Poto (Michelle Elvy and Kiri Piahana-Wong, Massey Universiy Press), Bulletin 214 (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū), Takahē Magazine, PŪHIA ii, and Catalyst Literary Journal.

Angela Clifford has loved using words to communicate thoughts and ideas since she was young. A life growing, cooking and sharing food has provided a fertile ground to nurture her words. As one of New Zealand’s thought leaders in food, farming and the environment she leads Aotearoa’s not for profit food movement Eat New Zealand, their mission is to reconnect people with our land and ocean through food.

Nick Gill is a farmer who is a cook. He’s spent his life as a viticulturist, amongst the grape vines, with experience and interest in organic and regenerative farming systems. He wrote the recipes for the book. Their home base is The Food Farm, a Permaculture property in North Canterbury. Here, with their three almost adult children, they run workshops, tours and events, helping other people learn how to grow, preserve and make food from scratch. Their first book The Food Farm is a celebration of twenty years of living on and loving this piece of land. The Food Farm was short-listed in NZ BookLovers Awards in 2026.