Laura Kroetsch

  

Laura Kroetsch is the Director of Writers’ Week at the Adelaide Festival. Laura is an innovative producer of literary events and brings to Writers' Week a wealth of experience and a new vision for this beloved and nationally significant event.

Laura comes to Adelaide from the New Zealand International Arts Festival where she ran their celebrated literary festival Writers & Readers. Laura has spent the almost twenty years working in the world of books and literature. A longtime critic and book reviewer she is an advocate for writers and an active member of the various literary communities. She has an enormous enthusiasm for literature in all its forms and a commitment to building readership.

Laura has worked as a bookseller, a freelance writer and editor. She is a former Montana New Zealand Book Awards judge and board member of both the New Zealand Post Book Awards and the Bank of New Zealand Literary Awards, she has also managed New Zealand's national book awards, their national poetry day and literature events for the New Zealand Book Council.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a marine biologist. I was madly in love with Jacques Cousteau and desperately wanted to join him, and the team, on the Calypso.

When did you know you would work in the arts?
As soon as I flunked out of 1st year biology I went back to the English department and came to my senses.

How would you describe your work to a complete stranger?
I am basically trying to get other people to read what I’m reading. I like to say I’m a professional reader, but what I really do requires a bit of stalking, a lot of negotiation and with luck the creation of a good event.

Is there a mission to your work?
Yes, I want to support writers I admire by building readership and I want to support readers by introducing them to new writers. As cynical as I can be, I genuinely believe that reading, and storytelling in general, makes for a richer life.

What's your background – what did you study to get to where you are?
I am by nature a compulsive reader who grew up in a house full of writers and books. I have both an undergraduate and a graduate degree in English and have worked in some part of the book industry for 20 years, originally as a bookseller, then later reviewer, copywriter, editor, awards judge and finally event producer.

What's the first thing career related you usually do each day?
I read for at least an hour first thing every morning, and then I check my emails.

Can you describe an "average" working day for you?
I get online and read the daily publishing newsletters, have a look at what rights are being sold, what is being reviewed and what is selling. At the start of a festival cycle I think about the writers I would like to have and then I issue the invitations. As the confirmations come in I continue to build on what I have. Once we have the majority of writers confirmed I start putting the sessions together. Once I have a program on a grid, I write the program. Throughout it all I spend a huge amount of time answering emails, negotiating with writers, publishers and other festivals. Then, as its gets close to a festival time I spend most of time making sure it all happens. My average days are always subject to where we are in the cycle of a festival.

What's the one thing - piece of equipment, toy, security blanket, – you can't work without?
My phone.

What gets you fired up?
A great book, especially one written by a living writer who is willing to travel economy.

Who in the industry most inspires you?
Innovative publishers like Richard Eion Nash.

What in the industry do you despair about?
Publishers who lack imagination.

What is the best thing about your job?
Reading and then talking about what I’ve read.

What’s the most challenging aspect?
The money! We spend so much time chasing the money it can be heartbreaking. If I ever win Lotto I’ll sponsor myself.

What are the top three skills you need in this industry?
Patience, inventiveness, and a willingness to try something new

What advice would you give anyone looking to break into your field?
Make sure you know a lot about contemporary literature, be aware of what is happening in the larger publishing world, and know your arts admin – like everybody else we have a lot of paper to push.

How do you know when you missed the mark?
When a session at a literary festival is going well, the audience is very still and the writers aren’t looking at their watches. When a session is boring the audience starts to fidget – reading newspapers, scratching out notes, whispering to the neighbors. When a session is a disaster everyone looks a bit embarrassed and often the writers look either slightly enraged or as though they are in pain.

Which of the below phrases best suits your career development to date and why?
a. "The road to success is always under construction."
I hate the idea that there is pinnacle to a career as that implies a downhill slide. I prefer to think that I’m in it, and that each thing I do will be better than the last, and that I’ll just keep going along and discovering new things as I go.

When do you know you’ve made it?
Not sure, I don’t feel like I’m there yet, but I do feel pretty good about where I am now, and am already thinking about 2013.