Healing for THE SOUL

This month, take a leaf out of Michèle's book and read, read, read!

- Michèle A'Court

For many weeks now, I've been working like a Trojan, often late into the night, grabbing every spare minute to focus on one particular job. By which I mean I've spent a lot of time curled up with a book.

I feel very lucky that one of my jobs is to read. Often novels, but also non-fiction, either to write reviews or - my favourite - to interview the writers.

May is the month of the Auckland Writers Festival, which sees more than 60,000 people attending events at the Aotea Centre. Last year broke records, with 85,000 readers enjoying the chance to meet their favourite authors and find new ones. It's not just Auckland - heaps of our towns and cities hold festivals dedicated to books and those who love them. For the last decade, I've tootled about the country as a writer, as a reader and as an "interlocuter" - the person on stage who interviews the author and wrangles questions from the audience.