Saturday Morning for Saturday 17 May 2008

Guest details for Saturday 17 May

broadcasting from Radio New Zealand's Auckland studio

8:12 Maher Mughrabi

Scottish-Palestinian journalist Maher Mughrabi is Foreign Desk News Editor for The Age in Melbourne.

8:30 Loretta Napoleoni

Italian author Loretta Napoleoni holds a PhD in terrorism from the London School of Economics, and consults to several governments on the financing and countering of terrorism. Her latest work of non-fiction is Rogue Economics: Capitalism's New Reality (Allen & Unwin, ISBN: 978-1-74175-478-0). She is a guest at two sessions at the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival '08, on Thursday 15 May and Sunday 18 May.

9:05 Simon Sebag Montefiore

As a war correspondent in the early 1990s, Simon Sebag Montefiore witnessed the fall of the Soviet Union and covered the wars in the Caucasus. As a historian, he researched the Russian archives for ten years; the stories he found helped inspire his new novel, Sashenka (Bantam, ISBN: 978-0-59305-637-0). His prize-winning biographies include Potemkin: Prince of Princes (Phoenix, ISBN: 0-75381-834-5) and, most recently, Young Stalin (Orion, ISBN: 978-0-297-85068-7). He is a guest at three sessions at the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival '08, on Thursday 15 May, Saturday 17 May and Sunday 18 May.

9:35 Junot D¡az

Dominican-American prose writer Junot D¡az was included on the list of 20 top writers for the 21st century by The New Yorker, one of the many magazines to publish his short stories. His 2007 debut novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Faber & Faber, ISBN: 978-0-571-17955-8) won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. He is a guest at four sessions at the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival '08, on Thursday 15 May, Friday 16 May and Sunday 18 May.

10:05 Steve Abel

Steve Abel is an Auckland singer-songwriter who records and performs with The Chrysalids (Geoff Maddock, Mike Hall, Milan Borich, Gareth Thomas). His acclaimed 2006 debut album, Little Death, is followed next week by Flax Happy (Kin'sland Records/Rhythmethod), featuring guest appearances from singers Jolie Holland and Anika Moa. It will be launched at the Dogs Bollix in Auckland on 22 May. Steve Abel recorded a live session for Radio New Zealand in February 2006.

10:45 Tusiata Avia

Poet, performer and children's book writer Tusiata Avia is one of the judges at Poetry Idol, and guests at two other events at the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival '08, on Friday 16 May and Saturday 17 May. She will follow her 2004 debut collection of poetry, Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, with a new volume, Bloodclot, later this year.

11:05 Peter Temple

Formerly a journalist and journalism lecturer, South African-born Peter Temple turned to fiction writing in the 1990s and is now Australia's most acclaimed crime writer. He has won five Ned Kelly Awards for crime fiction, most recently for The Broken Shore (Text, ISBN: 978-1-921145-35-3), which also won the UK Crime Writers' Association Duncan Lawrie Dagger in 2007 (the first Australian book to do so). Truth, the sequel to The Broken Shore, will be published later this year. Peter Temple is a guest at two sessions at the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival '08, on Saturday 17 May and Sunday 18 May.

11:40 Janet Street-Porter

Broadcaster, journalist and author Janet Street-Porter has appeared regularly on British television screens since 1973, most recently in the celebrity series Deadline and as a regular contributor for The F Word with Gordon Ramsay. She is the author of many books, including two volumes of memoirs, Baggage (Headline, 2004) and Fall Out (Headline, 2007). For two years she was the editor of the Independent on Sunday, a role she relinquished in 2001 to become editor at large. Her new book, Life's Too F***ing Short (Quadrille, ISBN: 978-1-844-00586-4), was published earlier this year.

Music played on the programme

Razzy Bailey: I Hate Hate
The 1974 single from the 2004 compilation album: Country Soul Vol. 1
(Casual)
Played at around 8:30am

Robert Wyatt: Stalin Wasn't Stallin'
From the 1982 album: Nothing Can Stop Us
(Thirsty Ear)
Played at around 9:30am

David Bowie: Sorrow
From the 1973 album: Pinups
(RCA)
Played at around 10:05am

Steve Abel, featuring Kirsten Morelle: Duet (Lonely I Be)
From the 2005 album: Little Death
(Kin'sland)
Played at around 10:25am

Steve Abel: Flax Happy
Live in the Radio New Zealand Auckland studio
Played at around 10:40am

Steve Abel & the Chrysalids, featuring Jolie Holland: Cinders of the Sun
From the 2008 album: Flax Happy
(Kin'sland)
Played at around 10:35

Studio operators

Auckland engineer: Jeremy Ansell
Wellington engineer: Lianne Smith