Scorpio Books Club | May | 'Amma' by Saraid de Silva
2024-05-07 18:00 - 19:30 (Pacific/Auckland) | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Always wanted to join a book club? Come join ours! Share your thoughts and hear what others made of our Book of the Month at Scorpio Books Club.
On the first Tuesday of each month, we meet discuss our previous Book of the Month – so in May, we’ll be talking about our April book, Amma by Saraid de Silva.
When: Tuesday 7th May, 6pm – 7.30pm
Where: Scorpio Books
Tickets: $10 per person per month

Your ticket includes:

An email with a selection of reviews and questions a few days prior to get the ideas flowing. (Not required reading – just there if you’re keen.)
Drinks, nibbles and facilitated discussion on the night, plus Bel and Ray’s other recommended reads for the month.
After hours browsing time, with 10% off all full-priced purchases on the night.
A follow up email that includes all books mentioned on the night (so you can add them to your TBR pile!)

If you have any questions about the Scorpio Books Club, please email bookclub@scorpiobooks.co.nz.
* Cancellation policy: tickets can be cancelled until 9am on the day by emailing bookclub@scorpiobooks.co.nz. The ticket price cannot be refunded, but transferred to the next Book Club session, or to store credit that will never expire.

Author Talk | 'The Back Fix' by Antony Bush
2024-05-09 17:30 - 19:00 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Join us, author Antony Bush and specialist Spinal and Orthopaedic Surgeon Kris Dalzell to discuss The Back Fix, a comprehensive and research-based self-help book for back pain. Audience Q&A time included.
All welcome, light refreshments provided. Arrive from 5.30pm for a 6pm start.
This event is free to attend – please RSVP by filling in this Google Form here or by going to tinyurl.com/ScorpioBooksRSVP.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
A comprehensive ‘how-to’ for all back pain sufferers. Includes the 10 ‘Back Facts’ researchers want us all to know. The common back pain myths and misconceptions. The importance of outlook, mood and thought processes. Learn how to tailor your lifestyle. Use movement and mindfulness as a way back to enjoying a pain-free and self-empowered life.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Antony has treated Olympic gold medallist rowers, alpine skiers, members of the All Blacks, ITU World Championship Triathletes, and World Champion curlers. But he is just as happy helping keen weekend warriors and members of the general public. Antony also has a special interest in corporate health and wellness and is passionate about getting people away from their smartphones and computer screens and moving about in our great outdoors. He is a keen multi-sporter and Coast-to-Coaster.
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ABOUT THE CHAIR:
Kris Dalzell is a specialist Spinal and Orthopaedic Surgeon. He completed his medical and specialist training in New Zealand and further Spine and Arthroplasty sub-specialty training in Canada and Australia. He specializes in complex surgery of the spine, joint replacement surgery and surgery of the knee.

Meet the Author | Jacqueline Harvey
2024-05-16 16:00 - 17:00 | Telling Tales, 101-111 Cashel Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
We are so excited to host Jacqueline Harvey, best-selling Australian children’s author, at Telling Tales! Come along on Wednesday 16th May at 4pm. Meet Jacquie, get your books signed, and find your next reading treasure!
This event is free to attend, all welcome.
Thanks to our friends at Penguin Random House.

*EVENT CANCELLED* Author Talk | Natalie Haynes
2024-05-19 18:00 - 19:30 | Tūranga, 60 Cathedral Square, Christchurch
*EVENT CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS*
Renowned author, broadcaster and Classicist Natalie Haynes will join Patrick O’Sullivan (Classics Department, University of Canterbury) to discuss her recent work on the goddesses and women of Greek myth, and what the ancient Greeks and Romans – in all the richness and complexity of their cultures – can offer us when facing some of the most challenging issues of our time.

Annual Sale
2024-05-31 09:00 - 2024-06-09 17:00 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Terms and conditions

Our Annual Sale runs from Friday 31st May until Sunday 9th June.
Selected titles from all departments are marked down by 50-70%
In-store only
No holds, returns or exchanges available on sale items
Loyalty card stamps apply to full-priced items only, not sale items

Scorpio Books Club | June | 'My Friends' by Hisham Matar
2024-06-04 18:00 - 19:30 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Always wanted to join a book club? Come join ours! Share your thoughts and hear what others made of our Book of the Month at Scorpio Books Club.
On the first Tuesday of each month, we meet discuss our previous Book of the Month – so in June, we’ll be talking about our May book, My Friends by Hisham Matar .
When: Tuesday 7th May, 6pm – 7.30pm
Where: Scorpio Books
Tickets: $10 per person per month

Your ticket includes:

An email with a selection of reviews and questions a few days prior to get the ideas flowing. (Not required reading – just there if you’re keen.)
Drinks, nibbles and facilitated discussion on the night, plus Bel and Ray’s other recommended reads for the month.
After hours browsing time, with 10% off all full-priced purchases on the night.
A follow up email that includes all books mentioned on the night (so you can add them to your TBR pile!)

If you have any questions about the Scorpio Books Club, please email bookclub@scorpiobooks.co.nz.
* Cancellation policy: tickets can be cancelled until 9am on the day by emailing bookclub@scorpiobooks.co.nz. The ticket price cannot be refunded, but transferred to the next Book Club session, or to store credit that will never expire.

Book Launch | 'Ans Westra: A Life in Photography' by Paul Moon
2024-06-11 17:30 - 19:00 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Massey University Press and Scorpio Books invite you to the launch of Paul Moon’s new book, Ans Westra: A Life in Photography.
All welcome, light refreshments provided. Arrive from 5.30pm for a 6pm start.
This event is free to attend – please RSVP here.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
The photographer Ans Westra, who died in 2023, took hundreds of thousands of images over her long career. Together, those images constitute what is arguably a photo album of Aotearoa. Her dedication and determination sometimes came at a cost but she was focused and driven, overcoming a difficult childhood in the Netherlands and later complex adult relationships to forge her own path. Warm, engaging and sympathetic, this richly illustrated biography interrogates her remarkable – and at times controversial – practice and a life that always put photography first.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr Paul Moon ONZM is a professor of history at Auckland University of Technology, where he has taught since 1993. He is the author of many books, including biographies of James Busby, William Hobson, Robert FitzRoy, and the Ngāpuhi rangatira Hōne Heke and Hōne Heke Ngāpua. In 2003, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society at University College, London. Paul lives in Auckland.

Book Launch | 'The End of the Beginning' by Jenna Heller
2024-06-13 17:30 - 19:00 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
AT THE BAY | I TE KOKORU and Scorpio Books invite you to the launch of Jenna Heller’s new book, The End of the Beginning.

All welcome, light refreshments provided. Arrive from 5.30pm for a 6pm start.
This event is free to attend – please RSVP by filling in this Google Form here or by going to tinyurl.com/ScorpioBooksRSVP.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
A tornado rips the roof from a strip mall. A girl is scorched by her own reflection. A daughter enacts revenge for her mother’s grotesquely inappropriate remarks. An unwell man prepares to leave his home and community for the last time. A woman contemplates her impending transformation into a sea creature, while another, gifted with second sight, finds that ghosts start to outnumber the living.
With plots that hinge on moments of unease, betrayal, or violence, these small stories focus on becoming and unforeseen departures. Ranging from North America to Aotearoa, they move through the captured time of childhood memory to the vastness of geological time as experienced by an escaping moon, and often, they lean into a queer and ecologically-inflected Gothic.
“Brilliant, tender and spare.” – Frankie McMillan
“With a delicate but strong sense of narrative voice, Jenna Heller has seized the flash form and made it her own.” – Tina Shaw
“These spare yet sumptuous stories ripple with wonder and warmth. They are also ruthless. Nothing under the sun escapes Jenna Heller’s sharp-eyed perception. The End of the Beginning is flash fiction at its finest.” – Michelle Ross
“These small stories riff on genre, but often lean into a dark humour that scratches at the unease in human relationships with other humans and with the environment, like a succession of brutal jokes. Jenna Heller is attentive to the ‘suitcase behind the smile’, to life as it is lived and its multiple alternate personalities.” – Alison Glenny
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jenna Heller was the joint-winner of the Meniscus Australian CLA Best Prose Prize 2019, shortlisted for the Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing 2019, runner-up of the North & South Short, Short Story Contest 2019, winner of National Flash Fiction Day NZ 2020, runner-up for the Caselberg International Poetry Prize 2021, and was also selected for inclusion in the international anthology Best Small Fictions 2020, 2021, and 2023.

Book Launch | 'Hopurangi—Songcatcher' by Robert Sullivan
2024-06-26 17:30 - 19:00 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Auckland University Press and Scorpio Books invite you to celebrate the launch of Robert Sullivan‘s new poetry collection Hopurangi—Songcatcher. Inspired by the cyclical energies of the Maramataka, these poems see the poet re-finding himself and his world – in the mātauranga of his kuia from the Ngāti Hau and Ngāti Kaharau hapū of Ngāpuhi; in his mother’s stories from his Ngāti Manu hapū at Kāretu; in the singing and storytelling at Puketeraki Marae, home of his father’s people of Kāti Huirapa, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha and Kāi Tahu Whānui in Te Tai o Āraiteuru; and in the fellowship of friends on Facebook.
All welcome, light refreshments provided. Arrive from 5.30pm for a 6pm start.
To be launched by Anna Jackson.
This event is free to attend – please RSVP by filling in this Google Form here or by going to tinyurl.com/ScorpioBooksRSVP.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
“Rich, accessible and fun, intense and moving, Hopurangi—Songcatcher presents poems charting the increasing harmonisation of a Māori literary intellect with his world in cultural, spiritual and physical terms. This harmonisation is focused through his intensifying connection with the Maramataka, the whenua he inhabits, his Māori community (online and in real life), and his own body. The poems are extraordinarily appealing – technically tight, warm and emotionally moving.” — Tina Makereti, Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Robert Sullivan (Ngāpuhi, Kāi Tahu) is the author of nine books of poetry as well as a graphic novel and an award-winning book of Māori legends for children. He co-edited, with Albert Wendt and Reina Whaitiri, the anthologies of Polynesian poetry in English, Whetu Moana (2002) and Mauri Ola (2010), and an anthology of Māori poetry with Reina Whaitiri, Puna Wai Kōrero (2014), all published by Auckland University Press. Among many awards, he received the 2022 Lauris Edmond Memorial Award for a distinguished contribution to New Zealand poetry. He is associate professor of creative writing at Massey University and has taught previously at Manukau Institute of Technology and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. His most recent collection was Tūnui | Comet (Auckland University Press, 2022).

Book Launch | 'Rere Takitahi/Flying Solo' edited by JCL Purchase and AJ Woolf
2024-07-01 17:30 - 19:00 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Olearia Press and Scorpio Books invite you to celebrate the launch of a new anthology of collected writings on the experience of solo parenthood and differently-structured families in Aotearoa New Zealand. This event will feature readings from contributors – lineup TBA.

All welcome, light refreshments provided. Arrive from 5.30pm for a 6pm start.
This event is free to attend – please RSVP by filling in this Google Form here or by going to tinyurl.com/ScorpioBooksRSVP.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
Including over fifty writers from diverse ethnic and demographic communities (representing parents/grandparents/matua, offspring/rangatahi, educators, doctors, social workers, researchers, creatives and other disciplines) Rere Takitahi/Flying Solo “eviscerates” the lived experience of an often neglected and misunderstood sector of society, focusing attention on aspects of their lives that will resonate with readers who have experienced similar.
From Katherine Mansfield’s sinister story about an abandoned, single mother trying to survive in early 19th century rural New Zealand, to Jess Young’s moving poem about wet nappies hanging throughout the house while her milk lets down during her WINZ appointment, to Fiona Farrell’s intellectually disabled Skinny Louie, who births her child all alone in the orchid house at the Dunedin Botanic Gardens, to Alexandra Balm’s mother and son migrating to New Zealand from eastern Europe, to Michael Botur’s solo father going to great lengths to support his little girl, Rere Takitahi/Flying Solo explores the fates of alternatively-structured families and single parents through short and micro-fiction, essay, memoir, poetry and reportage.
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ABOUT THE EDITORS:
JCL Purchase (aka Jenny Purchase) is a senior secondary teacher of English, French, and ESOL but has also taught an eclectic range of subjects in the tertiary sector. Possessing extensive academic and business writing experience, since completing a master’s degree in creative writing at AUT in 2010, and a further Post-Graduate Diploma in Communication Studies in 2011, she has branched increasingly into creative writing, scriptwriting, reviewing and article writing. Some of her work has been published in journals, publications, anthologies, and online, and she released a collection of short stories, Transit Lounge in 2022 (Lasavia Publishing). One of Jenny’s short stories received Creative New Zealand funding for a short film. She has also received special mentions in the Katherine Mansfield Short Story Competition and the Aeon Competition. She is currently working on an epic historical novel in the classic tradition and a memoir/philosophical reflection on her life and times. She campaigns tirelessly for magazines, newspapers, and periodicals to publish more short fiction and poetry.
AJ (Angela) Woolf is a writer and artist living in Marlborough. She has published short stories and currently has four novels ready for publication. Several of Angela’s short stories and novels have reached the finals in competitions such as the Michael Gifkins Prize, and she received third place in the Zephyr Short Story Competition in 2020.
Both editors are former solo parents and members of alternative families.

Kidsfest Treasure Hunt at Telling Tales
2024-07-06 09:00 - 2024-07-21 17:00 | Telling Tales, 101-111 Cashel Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Find the letters hidden around the shop and unscramble them into the name of a famous book character! Entry Forms can be found at the counter every day throughout the school holidays.
Prizewinners will be selected during the first week of term three.
This is a free event, no bookings required.

Kidsfest Reading Challenge at Telling Tales
2024-07-06 09:00 - 2024-07-21 17:00 | Telling Tales, 101-111 Cashel Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Read books to win! Pick up an entry form in-store during the holidays. Submit it during KidsFest (6th July – 21st July) to win a brilliantly bookish prize.
Books can come from Telling Tales, your local library, or your own bookshelf! Different challenges for each age category: 0-5, 6-9, 10+.
This event is free to enter, entry forms available at the counter throughout the school holidays (Saturday 6th July – Sunday 21st July).

Book Launch | 'Power to Win: The Living Wage Movement in Aotearoa New Zealand' by Lyndy McIntyre
2024-07-08 17:30 - 19:00 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Lyndy McIntyre, Living Wage Aotearoa New Zealand, Scorpio Books and Otago University Press warmly invite you to the launch of Power to Win: The Living Wage Movement in Aotearoa New Zealand by Lyndy McIntyre. To be launched by Rebecca Macfie.
All welcome, light refreshments provided. Arrive from 5.30pm for a 6pm start.
This event is free to attend – please RSVP by filling in this Google Form here or by going to tinyurl.com/ScorpioBooksRSVP.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
Lyndy McIntyre’s Power to Win tells the story of the living wage movement in Aotearoa New Zealand. The living wage movement is grounded in the fundamental belief that all New Zealanders should be paid enough to meet their needs, enjoy their lives and participate in society. Yet, from the 1980s, with the gap between rich and poor growing and poverty increasing, more and more workers could no longer afford to aspire to this quality of life. The question of how to rectify resultant social inequities was becoming urgent.
In Power to Win, McIntyre documents the history of the Living Wage Movement Aotearoa New Zealand from these roots to the present day. This is the story of the movement’s efforts to lift the wages of the most disadvantaged people in our workforce – women, Māori, Pacific Peoples, migrants and refugees, and young workers. McIntyre provides a window into the lives of these workers and those committed to ending in-work poverty: the activists, faith groups, unions and community organisations who come together to tilt the axis of power from employers to low-wage workers.
Power to Win is the record of an extraordinarily successful movement. It is a celebration of hope and an inspiring read. This book shows that communities have power and that change can happen.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lyndy McIntyre grew up in the 50s and 60s in a time of relative prosperity in Aotearoa New Zealand. In the 70s she became increasingly active in left/progressive issues and her community. Lyndy learnt about unions on the job as a union delegate in the printing industry through the 1980s. In 1990 she started a 30-year working life in unions, with a brief stint as a parliamentary press secretary. In 2007 she was elected to Kāpiti Coast District Council. She served one term and decided that union work was more worthwhile. In 2015, she became one of two paid community organisers in Living Wage Movement Aotearoa New Zealand. In 2020, she retired from her community organising role and began to write this story of the movement.

Find out more at oup.nz/power-to-win

Kidsfest Costume Competition at Telling Tales
2024-07-10 10:00 - 11:00 | Telling Tales, 101-111 Cashel Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Come along to Telling Tales on Wednesday 10th July at 10am in your most exciting costume!
Have a fun-filled morning, check out our other Kidsfest activities and win great prizes! Extra points if your costume is book related.
No bookings required.

Author Talk | Laurence Fearnley
2024-07-10 17:30 - 19:00 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Scorpio Books and Penguin Random House New Zealand warmly welcome you to an author talk featuring Laurence Fearnley in conversation with Morrin Rout.
All welcome, light refreshments provided. Arrive from 5.30pm for a 6pm start.
This event is free to attend – please RSVP by filling in this Google Form here or by going to tinyurl.com/ScorpioBooksRSVP.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
Following a disastrous family holiday, Libby and Curtis make a promise: If they ever visit the West Coast of the South Island again, it will be to stay at the majestic Grand Glacier Hotel.
Twenty years later, Libby is recovering from cancer and the couple finally return to the resort. Except the glacier has retreated, nothing goes to plan, and after a storm separates her from Curtis, Libby finds herself alone in the isolated hotel.
Disappointed, she tentatively begins to explore her surroundings. Could the inaccessible hotel and its curious collection of staff and guests hold the key to Libby reconnecting with the person she once was?
At the Grand Glacier Hotel is award-winning novelist Laurence Fearnley’s third novel responding to the five senses. Drawing on a varied soundscape, this tangible, moving portrait of physical and emotional recovery offers a way forward, one hopeful step at a time.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Laurence Fearnley is an award-winning novelist. Her novel The Hut Builder won the fiction category of the 2011 NZ Post Book Awards. In 2014 her novel Reach was longlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, and, in 2008, Edwin and Matilda was runner-up in the fiction category of the Montana New Zealand Book Awards. Her second novel, Room, was shortlisted for the 2001 Montana New Zealand Book Awards. In 2004 Fearnley was awarded the Artists to Antarctica Fellowship and in 2007 the Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago. In 2016 she won the NZSA/Janet Frame Memorial Award and in 2017 she was the joint winner of the Landfall essay competition. She was named a New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate in 2019. She lives in Dunedin.

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ABOUT THE CHAIR:
Morrin Rout has spent over 25 years organising literary events and festivals and producing and presenting book programmes on national and local radio. She is the former Director of the Hagley Writers Institute and is a current member of the WORD festival trust board.

Kidsfest - Melanie Poppins at Telling Tales
2024-07-12 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-07-19 10:00 - 11:00 | Telling Tales, 101-111 Cashel Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Join Melanie Poppins at Telling Tales for a morning of magic and face painting! Friday 12th July or Friday 19th July at 10am.
Please RSVP for facepainting as numbers are limited – email us at tellingtales@scorpiobooks.co.nz

(FULLY BOOKED)Melanie Poppins at Telling Tales
2024-07-12 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-07-19 10:00 - 11:00 | Telling Tales, 101-111 Cashel Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Due to overwhelming demand this event is at capacity. Check out our other great Kidsfest Events, we would love to see you these holidays!
Join Melanie Poppins at Telling Tales for a morning of magic and face painting!
Friday 12th July or Friday 19th July at 10am.
Please RSVP for facepainting as numbers are limited – email us at tellingtales@scorpiobooks.co.nz.

Author Talk | Sam Smith
2024-07-14 11:00 - 14:00 | Tūranga, 60 Cathedral Square, Christchurch
Come along and meet bestselling writer Sam Smith, author of Don’t Scare the Dentist and Miles and Jones, in the school holidays at Tūranga Library. Sam Smith will be doing two shows. The first is at 11.00am and will focus on his picture books for younger children, and the second is at 1.00pm and will be about the first installment of his graphic novel series Miles and Jones: The Anaconda Attack. Both events are free, no bookings required.

11:00AM – 11:45AM: Don’t Scare the Dentist by Sam Smith
Come along and meet bestselling writer Sam Smith and enjoy stories, songs and craft!
Get ready to laugh out loud with DON’T SCARE THE DENTIST.
Join Dr Charlie as he faces his biggest fear… a child in his dental chair.

1:00PM – 2:00PM: Miles and Jones: The Anaconda Attack by Sam Smith
Best friends Amelia Miles and Shackleton Jones team up to save their park from the curses of Glam-Evil, an ultra-villain with a grudge. The hilariously funny, graphic novel series from writer and comedian Sam Smith and illustrator César Lador.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sam Smith is a bestselling writer, comedian, and former-dentist. He pivoted from dentistry to comedy after a MS diagnosis caused him to partially lose his vision. He is a head writer for the TV show 7 Days, creates the tasks for Taskmaster NZ, and wrote for Wellington Paranormal. He is the go-to audience warm-up act for many shows including Dancing With the Stars, The Project, Have You Been Paying Attention? and Patriot Brains.

Book Launch | 'The Mess We Made' by Megan O'Neill
2024-07-30 17:30 - 20:00 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Please join Scorpio Books and Moa Press for the launch of local author Megan O’Neill’s debut novel The Mess We Made.
All welcome, light refreshments provided. Arrive from 5.30pm for a 6pm start.
This event is free to attend – please RSVP by filling in this Google Form here or by going to tinyurl.com/ScorpioBooksRSVP.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
The Mess We Made is an addictive will-they-won’t-they debut love story about whether there can ever be a second chance for your first love.
Quin and Henry meet as kids and quickly become inseparable… They are high-school sweethearts until one night, one bad decision shatters everything. Years later, Quin’s stuck working at a local takeaway. She’s not spoken to Henry since he left town nine years ago. She barely talks to her twin brother Josh, and their mum has a degenerative disease – Quin’s dealing with the fact that she might get it too.
When Henry suddenly returns – and keeps showing up at work to walk Quin home – she feels herself falling all over again. But his reappearance triggers the secret she’s kept buried for the past nine years, and she doesn’t know if she can trust Henry not to disappear on her when he learns the truth.
If you love the millennial angst of Normal People and the addictive appeal of It Ends With Us and Daisy Jones and the Six, you will be captivated by Quin and the enigmatic Henry.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Megan O’Neill grew up in the small rural town of Waiau Pa, overlooking the Manukau Harbour in Auckland. She now lives in Christchurch, enjoying the wild nature on her doorstep and everything else the South Island has to offer. In her debut novel The Mess We Made, she was inspired to write characters who were messy, raw and real.

Author Talk at Tūranga | Ruth Shaw
2024-08-07 16:30 - 18:00 | Tūranga, 60 Cathedral Square, Christchurch
Join us for a wonderful and warming early evening event. Amanda Cropp speaks to author Ruth Shaw about her latest projects and her life after international bestseller The Bookseller at the End of The World, and her new book Bookshop Dogs, already a NZ bestseller.

4.30pm Meet the author, book sales, signing and refreshments.
5-6pm Ruth Shaw and Amanda Cropp
Free, bookings required

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ruth Shaw runs a cluster of ‘wee bookshops’ in remote Manapōuri in the far south of New Zealand. She lives with her husband, Lance. In 2022 she published her first memoir, The Bookseller at the End of the World, a book that has since become a critically acclaimed national and international treasure. The Bookseller at the End of the World has been translated into Italian, Dutch, German, Turkish and Chinese and will be available in Swedish, Russian, Slovakian, Arabic and Korean soon.

Book Launch | 'A Man Holds a Fish' by Glenn Busch
2024-08-08 17:30 - 19:00 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Te Papa Press and Scorpio Books warmly welcome you to the launch of Glenn Busch‘s new book, A Man Holds a Fish.
All welcome, refreshments provided. Arrive from 5.30pm for a 6pm start.
This event is free to attend – please RSVP by filling in this Google Form here or by going to tinyurl.com/ScorpioBooksRSVP.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Selected by the legendary photographer himself, the 79 extraordinary images in Glenn Busch’s A Man Holds A Fish cement and celebrate his reputation as one of New Zealand’s most important photographers. Almost other-worldy, and striking in their humanity and emotional affect, the images in this resonant book bear returning to again and again.
Busch’s work secured public notice in 1984 with the publication of Working Men. As art writer Peter Ireland observes in his essay, ‘In the early 1970s . . . the social documentary tradition was the reigning, respectable approach, and Busch’s work remains foundational, even after half a century retaining a vividness and force in its resistance to any tendency to idealise in his portraiture, as this book so clearly attests.’
A handsome, large-format book, beautifully designed by Seven, this book serves as both an introduction to the work of a hugely influential and widely regarded figure in photography in Aotearoa New Zealand and a celebration of his place in our art history.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Glenn Busch, best known for his intimate, thought-provoking portraits and captivating social documentary work, was born in Auckland in 1948. He left school at 14 and spent his early years working as a manual labourer in many different places around Australia and New Zealand. His passion for photography began with the viewing of the work of Hungarian photographer Brassaï and his understanding of the medium was helped through a chance meeting with John B Turner.
Throughout his career, Busch has focused on capturing the essence of daily life, often exploring themes of community, work and identity. His influential projects include Working Men, You Are My Darling Zita, The Man With No Arms and Other Stories, My Place and the ongoing Place In Time documentary project.
Busch has also contributed to New Zealand’s photographic education with his founding of the influential Auckland photography gallery, Snaps, and through his many years of teaching at the School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha.
Peter Ireland is a well-known painter, curator and art writer with a deep interest in photography inter alia.

Book Launch | 'The Ones That Bit Me' by Marcus Taylor
2024-08-09 18:00 - 20:00
Nau mai, haere mai
Nau piki mai ki tēnei hui whakanui pukapuka
Massey University Press invites you to the launch of: The Ones That Bit Me! Camels, cows and other young-vet stories by Marcus Taylor

Friday 9 August 2024, 6.30pm
GM Hair Design
300 Cashel Street
Central City, Christchurch
Facebook Event here

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP.
Books will be available for sale and signing.
Ngā mihi nui
The Massey University Press team

Author Talk | Shain Shapiro
2024-08-26 18:00 - 19:30 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
RDU, Scorpio Books and Auckland UNESCO City of Music warmly welcome you to an author talk featuring Shain Shapiro. Shain is touring Aotearoa New Zealand in support of his latest book This Must Be The Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better. This event will include book signings, readings and discussion. Special guests to be announced.
All welcome, refreshments provided. Bookings essential. Arrive from 5.30pm for a 6pm start.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
This Must Be the Place introduces and examines music’s relationship to cities. Not the influence cities have on music, but the powerful impact music can have on how cities are developed, built, managed and governed.Told in an accessible way through personal stories from cities around the world — including London, Melbourne, Nashville, Austin and Zurich — This Must Be the Place takes a truly global perspective on the ways music is integral to everyday life but neglected in public policy.Arguing for the transformative role of artists and musicians in a post-pandemic world, This Must Be The Place not only examines the powerful impact music can have on our cities, but also serves as a how-to guide and toolkit for music-lovers, artists and activists everywhere to begin the process of reinventing the communities they live in.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Shain Shapiro holds a PhD from the University of London and lives in East London. He is a globally recognised thought leader at the convergence of music, culture and urban policy. This is showcased in his debut book, This Must Be The Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better, released on Repeater Books in September 2023. He is also an accomplished academic, having authored courses for the Global Leaders Institute and Berklee College of Music and is also the co-founder of Unison Rights, a new copyright management entity in Spain.

Make It Make Sense | Book Launch
2024-09-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Scorpio Books, Moa Press and Shit You Should Care About warmly welcome you to the launch of Make It Make Sense by Lucy Blakiston and Bel Hawkins. Registrations are essential for this event, so please send in your RSVP and reserve your spot. Pre-order your book today! And now, a message from the authors:
SOUTH ISLAND BABIES WE ARE COMING TO YOU! We are so goddamn excited to be launching our first!! ever!! book!! and to get to come and launch it at one of our fave bookstores: Scorpio Books!!
We couldn’t think of a better way to send this thing out into the world than with a bunch of our favourite worn-out women (or worn-out people), hanging out and trying to make sense of all our burning questions about the world, ourselves, whether we hate our jobs or just need a bit of sleep, and whether good love is really coming for us or if we’ll be stuck in situationships until we die.
Where? Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch
When? Friday September 20th, 6-8pm
What can you expect? An evening of love, grief, girlhood, friendship, but mostly, a whole lot of fucking fun and phoenixing <3
Can’t wait to see your cute face!!
Luce & Bel xxxxxx

Sylvia Tour | Just Janie & Sig Wilder
2024-09-21 15:00 - 17:00 | Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Two modern-day troubadours brought together by the poetry of two Sylvia’s.
Just Janie and Sig Wilder are banding together with their new double single ‘Sylvia’. Fusing nostalgic Laurel Canyon folk and alt-country grit onstage in a ‘songwriter rounds’ format, they will share the songs and stories of the music that made them.
Sig and Janie met earlier this year in Te Whanganui-a-Tara and realized they’d both written songs titled ‘Sylvia’, influenced by poetry collections from Sylvia Plath and Sylvia Legris. After performing together, the duo knew there was something special when their voices merged. Now they’re bringing that magic to the stage.
‘Sylvia’ includes two tracks, written individually and recorded together.
Sylvia I, written and composed by Just Janie, responds to reading Sylvia Plath’s poetry collection Ariel. After picking up the collection at Scorpio Books in Ōtautahi and feeling drawn in from the two cover lines: ‘I rise with my red hair, and eat men like air’, Janie was floored by the collection. This is a song to deal with the trauma of reading Sylvia Plath.
Sylvia II, written and composed by Sig Wilder, is a response to reading Sylvia Legris’s poetry collection Garden Physic. With each page Sig, who is also a gardener, discovered a wealth of complex plant references and botanical histories. He was inspired by the botanical glossolalia seemingly of Sylvia’s own invention and the collection’s ability to create music from language. This is song is an exploration of the language of plants and the haunting relationship between poet and reader.
Drawing inspiration from the folk scene of the late sixties and early seventies, Central Otago-born artist Just Janie has a crisp and tender style, creating worlds for listeners to melt into. Raised in the American Midwest and now living under the Southern Cross, Sig Wilder’s music is a journey through the hills and plains of Aotearoa, weaving the nostalgia and sorrow of Americana into the fabric of Aotearoa’s musical landscape.

This gig occurs simultaneously with regular Saturday afternoon shopping conditions and is free to attend.

Kataraina | Book Launch
2024-09-21 17:30 - 19:30
Some of the Scorpio team are hitting the road in September to support the launch of Kataraina by Becky Manawatu, the much-anticipated sequel to instant classic Auē (2019). Do you have friends on the West Coast? Let them know we’re on our way, for one night only!
Saturday 28th September, 5.30pm
VENUE UPDATE: now at The Denniston Dog Pub, 18 Wakefield Street, Westport 7825

Days of Ice | Artists in Antarctica
2024-10-08 17:30 - 19:30 | Tūranga, 60 Cathedral Square, Christchurch
DAYS OF ICE
You are warmly invited to join Days of Ice at Tūranga to celebrate the opening of the Antarctic science season. Come celebrate Ōtautahi Christchurch’s connection to Antarctica with interactive activities, speakers, film, Explore Antarctica and more.

What transformation happens when writers, musicians and artists stand in the vast, cold spaces of Antarctica? Join Patrick Shepherd and fellow artists to celebrate the work of Kiwi artists in Antarctica and Antarctica’s power to inspire.
Tuesday 8 October
5.30pm: Days of Ice opening
6.00-7.30pm: Patrick Shepherd and fellow artists
Tautoru / TSB Space, Hapori | Community, Level 1, Tūranga
Free, bookings required
