Stephanie Johnson

Before two years, Stephanie Johnson, creative writing teacher and illustrious novelist, formed The Writing Class, wherein confident student writers resist, under the alert eye of instructors, to make publishable documents. There was an inherent anticipation to the novel because it led up to the instant when every student had to present a document.

The Writers' Festival, their 11th novel even has an inbuilt anticipation part. Counting throughout the time from Jan to June, it records the behind-the-scenes arrangements for a reader’s and writers' festival in the Auckland, most important up to the performance of the festival only.

The Festival of Writers is not exactly a follow-up to The Writing Class. You do not need to have interpreted the previous novel to get pleasure from this one.  But few performers are approved over. Once more there is rumpled Merle Carbury and their miserable, left-wing earlier partner Brendan, along with Merle still keeping a try to get their creative juices later than having too long trained others how to mark. Once more there is an old colleague of Merle Gareth Heap and their mercurial a little bit mistress, writer Jacinta the never-published. Their matter is off, and Gareth is only one of the judges for an important literary prize that would be awarded at the festival. Throughout Gareth, the issue touches by Stephanie Johnson of how near judges must be to the authors they are evaluating. Gareth is the earlier instructor of the hot preferred to win the prize, an Indian novelist gay.

The battles fiercest in The Festival of Writers are those among two directors of the festival, the literary and conscientious Rae and the unliterary and pragmatic Orla. There is a lot bitchery in the work of fiction. There are even several separate bits of humor. But the most excellent of it is the glow it throws on fictional jealousies, how the game of promotion is performed at these festivals.