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The Merchant of Clyde café was filled to capacity with a very appreciative audience, for the inaugural Cover to Cover Authors Talk event on Friday evening, 2nd December. Fiona Sussman is an award-winning novelist and short story writer whose work has been published internationally. Fiona read excerpts from her fourth, and latest novel, The Doctor’s Wife. Published in October this year, this latest novel has already been listed in The Listener Best Books for 2022, where they describe it as “a fine thriller that hooks readers in early and never lets up”. Fiona then chatted with local Clyde writer Annie Villiers about her previous life - growing up in a book-loving, publishing family in Johannesburg, South Africa; emigrating to New Zealand 32 years ago; working as a GP in Auckland and subsequently following her passion and making the career change from medicine to writing full time. This was a hugely successful event in a delightfully intimate environment – eagerly awaited after two postponements – and planning will start soon for two more Cover to Cover events in 2023. Keep an eye out on our website centralotagoarts.co.nz and Facebook page Central Otago Arts for updates.

The Power that Flows Through Us is a new, multi-site public installation by Matthew Galloway, employing drone footage, sculpture, archival political cartoons and a newspaper publication to examine the socio-political context of Robert Muldoon’s Think Big initiative, with a specific focus on the legacy and impact of the Clyde Dam. With contributions from poet Brian Turner, writer Tina Ngata, and interviews with Edward Ellison, Kevin Jackson, Neil Gillespie and Duncan Faulkner, The Power that Flows Through Us updates and continues discussions around the legacy of Think Big. Belonging to an ongoing inquiry by the artist into the narratives around renewable energy, this project considers at once the generation of electrical power—through the extraction and transformation of natural resources—and the creation, distribution and exercise of political power.
This project has been made possible with funding from Manat? Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage, and Creative New Zealand.

The installations are located at the Clyde Museum and in the Heritage Precinct. The Power that Flows Through Us FREE newspaper can be collected across Central Otago and the Lakes Districts.

Matthew Galloway is an artist, designer and researcher based in ?tepoti Dunedin. His research-based practice asks questions of our built environment; examining events, systems and ideas that shape our collective sense of place and identity. His work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions at a number of major institutions both throughout Aotearoa, and internationally.