The Quake Year

"It was interesting what people in the checkout line were buying: it was all comfort food. The man in front of me had eggs, bacon, cigarettes, beer. And here we were buying pink buns. No one was buying sensible emergency rations like baked beans..." "It was just the most wonderful feeling. A sense of hope, like a weed growing out of a crack. Just sitting in the sun listening to beautiful classical music amidst all the devastation..." Everyone in Christchurch has their own story of the quakes. There are heroic and brave stories related to the events themselves, and also longer narratives of endurance over 18 months of aftershocks. No one will ever forget this year. In The Quake Year acclaimed author Fiona Farrell interviews people trying to live ordinary lives in extraordinary times. Their stories are moving, poignant, revealing and healing. This unique book takes the reader beyond the physical damage straight into the hearts of survivors, in stories that will touch a chord with every reader. Fiona's text is enhanced by beautiful photographs by acclaimed photographer Juliet Nicholas.

Fiona Farrell is an award-winning writer of poetry, short fiction, plays, and novels. Her short fiction has won the BNZ Katherine Mansfield Memorial Award, the American Express Award, and the Mobil Dominion Sunday Times Award. She is the author of Limestone, Mr. Allbones’ Ferrets, and The Pop-Up Book of Invasions, and her poems have been regularly selected for the annual online anthology Best New Zealand Poems. Juliet Nicholas is a photographer who has been recording the life and culture of New Zealand for more than 20 years.