The books that really made an impact on me were not set in New Zealand. Some were New Zealand novels, but the New Zealandness of them was not what carried me or excited me.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I'm not sure there's a difference between books that affected the way I see the world and books that influenced me as a writer.
You simply couldn't make a living as an author if New Zealand was your only market.
There are a lot of people of my generation in New Zealand literature, young writers on their first or second books, that I'm just really excited about. There seems to be a big gap between the generation above and us; it seems to be quite radically different in terms of form and approach.
That was the big effect Lord of the Rings had on me. It was discovering New Zealand. And even more precious were the people- not at all like the Australians.
I've had a quiet fascination with New Zealand for most of my life.
An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.
The importance and influence of books on me has been cumulative: the result of hearing and reading lots of stories about interesting people and places.
Books stay with me and have shaped me and made huge impacts on my life.
The road that led me to literature was very different from the one followed by my fellow writers in Poland.
Everybody knows about Peter Jackson, 'The Hobbit' movies and 'The Lord of the Rings' films being made in New Zealand, and to actually have been part of it for such a long period, to live there and to have friends that I will have for life because of that experience, is an amazing thing.
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