Saturday Morning for Saturday 15 March 2008

Guests for Saturday Morning 15 March

8:12 Foreign Correspondent: Cheryl Sucher in New York

Cheryl Sucher is a writer based in New York City and Dunedin.

8:30 Amotz Asa-El

Amotz Asa-El is President of BusinessWeek Israel and the former executive editor of the Jerusalem Post. He visited New Zealand as a guest of INZIC (Israel NZ Innovations Connections), an NGO established in 2005 to create innovative cultural, academic, scientific, economic and political connections between Israel and New Zealand.

9:05 Ruth Reichl

American food writer Ruth Reichl is the editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine. She was chief restaurant critic for The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, and is the editor of The Modern Library Food Series. She has written three books of memoirs: Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table (Allen & Unwin, ISBN: 9781865086972, originally published 1998), Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table (Allen & Unwin ISBN: 9781865086330, originally published 2001), and Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise (Allen & Unwin, ISBN: 9781741146448, originally published 2005). She is a guest at two events at Writers & Readers Week for the 2008 New Zealand International Festival of the Arts.

9:45 Don Thompson

Harvard economist Don Thompson is the author of The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art and Auction Houses (Aurum, ISBN: 9781845133023).

10:05 Playing Favourites with participants in Green Fire Islands

Bouzouki player and Irish music mainstay Dónal Lunny, ngä taonga püoro master Richard Nunns, singer Iarla O'Lionaird and poet Glenn Colquhoun are among the participants in Green Fire Islands, a unique collaborative ensemble honouring ancient Celtic and Maori music in a contemporary context. Green Fire Islands premiered in Raglan on 8 March and played at the 2008 New Zealand International Festival of the Arts on 11 March. Other participants include singer Whirimako Black, percussionist Riki Gooch, ngä taonga püoro master Horomona Horo, fiddler Nollaig Casey, harpist Laoise Kelly, guitarist Steve Cooney, and Uilleann piper Sean McKeon. There are two further performances of Green Fire Islands: as part of the WOMAD Festival in Taranaki on 14 and 15 March, and at Auckland's Aotea Centre on St Patrick's Day, 17 March, with special guests Neil Finn, Anika Moa, King Kapisi, Anna Coddington and Hinewehi Mohi.

Engineer for Green Fire Islands session: Jason McClelland (with thanks to Phil Benge and Adam Macaulay)

11:05 Christian Bök

Canadian poet, critic and sculptor Christian Bök is Associate Professor at the Department of English at the University of Calgary. His books of poetry include the 1994 volume Crystallography (Coach House Books, ISBN: 1-55245-119-4), which explores the boundary between science and poetry, and the 2001 volume Eunoia (Coach House Books, ISBN: 1-55245-092-9). Seven years in the making and a poetry best seller in Canada, Eunoia (which means "beautiful thinking", and takes its title from the shortest English word that contains all five vowels) is divided into five chapters, each of which employs only a single vowel. Christian Bök holds the world record for the fastest performed rendition of Kurt Schwitters's poem, Ursonate, and is a guest at three events at Writers & Readers Week for the 2008 New Zealand International Festival of the Arts.

11:30 John Williams

Australian guitarist John Williams OBE is acclaimed for his classical work, and for his wide-ranging collaborations in other areas of music. He plays one New Zealand concert with jazz guitarist John Etheridge, performing solo pieces and duets, at the Auckland Town Hall on Saturday 15 March.

Music played during the programme

Dudley Benson: Asthma
From the 2008 album: The Awakening
(Golden Retriever Records)

Donal Lunny, Richard Nunns, Iarla O'Lionaird: Tuirimh Mhic Fhnin Dhuibh (Lament for Black Finn's Son)
Live recording in the Drama Studio of Radio New Zealand, Wellington, 12 March 2008

Richard Nunns, Glenn Colquhoun: Poem
Live recording in the Drama Studio of Radio New Zealand, Wellington, 12 March 2008

Donal Lunny, Richard Nunns, Iarla O'Lionaird: Amhran na nGleann
Live recording in the Drama Studio of Radio New Zealand, Wellington, 12 March 2008

Donal Lunny, Richard Nunns, Iarla O'Lionaird: Garrett Barry's Jig
Live recording in the Drama Studio of Radio New Zealand, Wellington, 12 March 2008

John Williams and John Etheridge: Sangara
From the 2006 album: Places Between - Live in Dublin
(Sony Classical)

John Williams and John Etheridge: Places Between
From the 2006 album: Places Between - Live in Dublin
(Sony Classical)