A controversial author who thinks those who are disabled are not “people” will make an appearance at the New Zealand Post Writers and Readers Week.
Australian philosopher Peter Singer has generated outcry from a variety of disability groups over his eugenics-laden viewpoint that people with cognitive disabilities are a burden to society.
He is also known for arguing that parents should have a right to kill their disabled babies within 28 days after birth to give them the opportunity to have a non-disabled child.
“Strictly speaking, in the case of those who are not people, we cannot talk of ending their lives against or in accordance with their will, because they are not capable of having a will on such a matter. ...killing a person against her or his will is a much more serious wrong than killing a being that is not a person,” he wrote in book Rethinking Life and Death. (See our poll on this at www.captimes.co.nz)
Laura Kroetsch, the programme organiser for the week, which is part of the New Zealand International Arts Festival, says other views that Singer holds may be hard to swallow.
“He’s a vegan who advocates against eating meat, which is difficult for New Zealanders,” she says. “He also believes that people in the first world have a moral obligation to donate part of their income to the third world.”
Another writer who may stir the pot at the New Zealand Post Writers and Readers Week is infamous atheist and author Richard Dawkins.
Kroetsch says New Zealand was lucky he’d just released a book.
“One of the tricks in getting people of that stature is to get them when they’re not writing,” she says, adding that she got her dream team for the week.
She’s over the moon that the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize Winner, Philip Hoare, will be coming from the UK.
“We really wanted a biographer, and a year ago I read Leviathan (the book he won the prize for) and fell madly in love with it,” she laughs. “There’s always one writer you secretly want more than the others, and Philip Hoare was mine.”
But, considering the big names such as Dawkins and scholar and writer Simon Schama will also grace Wellington’s shores, it’s pretty clear all the writers are top-notch.
And, Kroetsch says, keep your eyes peeled after the festival. A number of the international talents are staying on in the country to do some sightseeing.
Three celebrated international authors have just been announced to join the 2010 Writers and Readers line-up. They are, Philip Hoare, The Time Traveler’s Wife author Audrey Niffenegger and British novelist Derek Jones.

Wellington writers involved:
Jenny Patrick, Anna Taylor, Eli Kent, Miria George, Neil Cross, Lucy O’Brien, Bill Manhire, James Belich, Kate Camp and Geoff Cochrane.

New Zealand Post Writers and Readers Week, locations around Wellington, March 9-14. See www.nzfestival.nzpost.co.nz for details.