The Ngaio Marsh Awards, in association with the Arataki Visitor Centre and Auckland Council, invite booklovers to a thrilling afternoon of criminally good conversation featuring a quartet of acclaimed and award-winning Kiwi storytellers.
As crime and thriller writing - fiction and non-fiction - has evolved from the puzzle-like mysteries of Dames Ngaio Marsh and Agatha Christie to modern tales to books delving deeply into psychology, people and places, it has continued to be one of the world’s most popular forms of storytelling. What draws us to darker tales?
Two-time Ngaios-winning author Michael Bennett (Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Whakaue) is joined by award-winning investigative journalist and true crime writer Kirsty Johnstone, screenwriter turned debut crime novelist Gavin Strawhan, and past Ngaios Best First Novel finalist Alan Titchall for a fun and fascinating korero among the forests. Auckland lawyer and Ngaios judge Darise Bennington will keep the peace and prosecute the offenders.
WHEN: Saturday, 31 May 2025
WHERE: Arataki Visitor Centre, 300 Scenic Drive, Oratia, Waitakere
WHEN: 2pm
Free entry. Refreshments will be provided.
Michael is an award-winning filmmaker and novelist (Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Whakaue) who has Ngaio Marsh Awards for both nonfiction and fiction - for his books IN DARK PLACES, detailing the story of Teina Pora, and BETTER THE BLOOD, the first Hana Westerman mystery. He is co-writer of Irish-NZ crime drama The Gone, and his crime novels have been translated into several languages, won the Beltie Prize in the USA, and been shortlisted for the Acorn Prize for Fiction and several other awards on four continents. His latest Hana Westerman crime thriller is CARVED IN BLOOD.
Kirsty is an award-winning investigative journalist at Radio NZ with an interest in inequality, gender and social justice. She has worked for several of NZ's biggest newspapers, and was awarded Best Investigation at the national media awards in 2014, Best Crime and Social Issues reporter in 2019, and Reporter of the Year in 2022. With James Hollings, she co-wrote THE CREWE MURDERS, reexamining Aotearoa's most infamous cold case.
Gavin is an award-winning writer, producer, and showrunner of many New Zealand and international television shows. Originally from Australia, he was Shortland Street’s first script editor and head writer, and co-created hit local shows Go Girls and Nothing Trivial. He was also showrunner and writer of the critically acclaimed mystery thriller This Is Not My Life, and Australian crime drama Hyde & Seek. THE CALL, Gavin’s debut novel, won the 2023 Allen & Unwin Fiction Prize for an unpublished manuscript.
Alan is a professional writer with a background in film script treatment, journalism, and magazine publishing. He studied New Zealand history and has a passion for our mixed social history. Through his travel and aviation writings, Alan has also travelled extensively. His first novel, WHILE THE FANTAIL LIVES, was a finalist in the Ngaio Marsh Awards and NZ Booklovers Awards.
Darise Bennington is a book-loving West Aucklander and a litigation and dispute resolution expert at one of New Zealand's leading law firms. She's a regular Mystery in the Library event chair, appeared onstage at Rotorua Noir, and is a Ngaio Marsh Awards judge.
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