The Broken Book by Fiona Farrell

An eight-part adaptation of The Broken Book in which Fiona Farrell, the Christchurch writer and enthusiastic walker, reads her acclaimed book that began as a loving collection of travel experiences and thoughts -  and was brutally interrupted by the violent forces of nature that devastated the city inciting chaos and evocative poems. 

Listen to Kim Hill's interview with Fiona Farrell about The Broken Book: Fiona Farrell - walking in the broken city

  • The Broken Book by Fiona Farrell - Part 1

    15 Feb 2012

    Walking out of necessity and walking for pleasure - Fiona rediscovers the latter while on the Katherine Mansfield fellowship in Menton in the south of France. Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • The Broken Book by Fiona Farrell - Part 2

    16 Feb 2012

    Walking a track in France following the same path as Robert Louis Stevenson's, 'Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes'. Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • The Broken Book by Fiona Farrell - Part 3

    17 Feb 2012

    Fiona walks her granddaughter down the steepest street in the world thinking about being in the autumn of her life and being accompanied by Spring. Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • The Broken Book by Fiona Farrell - Part 4

    20 Feb 2012

    Some history on Fiona's home in Banks Peninsula and what runs through her mind on her morning walk. Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • The Broken Book by Fiona Farrell - Part 5

    21 Feb 2012

    The year Fiona noticed everything getting bigger, this masculinist era we're living in and how her granddaughter changes Fiona's perception when they walk together. Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • The Broken Book by Fiona Farrell - Part 6

    22 Feb 2012

    Jolted awake by the earthquake on the 4th of September 2010, Fiona and her community are relieved no one has died. Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • The Broken Book by Fiona Farrell - Part 7

    23 Feb 2012

    Dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake Fiona looks things up. She discovers a poem and an account of the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • The Broken Book by Fiona Farrell - Part 8

    23 Feb 2012

    Stopped for lunch Fiona feels the quake on the 22nd of February 2011, but the car radio reveals the true impact. Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

The Broken Book

Published by Auckland University Press
ISBN: 9781869405762

Fiona Farrell is an award-winning novelist, playwright and poet. In 1995 she was the Katherine Mansfield Fellow in Menton and in 2006 she held the Rathcoola Residency in Ireland, where she wrote The Pop Up Book of Invasions, shortlisted for the Montana NZ Book Awards. Fiona received the NZ Prime Minister’s Award for Fiction in 2007.