Launching into the Liminal Space

JULIA WADE

An award-winning local author’s new book based on the curious theme of transitional space is set to launch in Mangawhai early February, with residents given a chance to receive a free copy.

Te Arai writer Jacquie McRae will be launching her new book ‘The Liminal Space’ on February 10 at Bennetts Cafe, following an Auckland promotion on January 27. The mother of three adult children says the idea for her new novel began a few years ago, when she was studying for a Masters in Creative Writing, eventually graduating with first class honours.

“Liminal space is the gap between things, a transitional space that we often race through, but is also the place where possibilities live, as we consider our next move,” she says. “My book ‘The Liminal Space’ is about a doctor who prescribes books instead of medicine, which I find intriguing… it’s a quirky little book.”

Despite beginning her writing career in her forties, McRae has already received awards and had some international recognition with her first book, ‘The Scent of Apples’, a young adult’s novel, winning a gold medal in New York’s 2012 Independent Publisher Awards, and selected by Munich’s International Youth Library for a White Ravens label.

The talented story-teller has also written a number of short stories and her work can be found in the ‘Stories on the Four Winds: Nga Hau e Wha’ anthology along with 18 of New Zealand’s accomplished writers. She’s also been a Pikihuia award finalist twice, which is run by the Maori Literature Trust, run sold out workshops in Raglan’s writers festival, and received a place on the inaugural Te Papa Tupu mentoring scheme, where she is now a mentor herself.

“My last mentee, Shilo Kino, wrote ‘The Porangi Boy’, a young adult novel which was published in November and is doing really well,” she says. “Although I only started writing in my 40s I’ve always been a huge reader, and I believe that is one of the best things you can do to become a better writer, is to read, read, read.”

Published by Huia, ‘The Liminal Space’ is due to launch locally in Mangawhai at Bennetts Cafe, February 10. Jacquie McRae is currently working on a historical involving the NZ illicit whiskey trade. PHOTOS/SUPPLIED