Marlborough Book Festival - Chessie Henry

We Can Make a Life - Chessie Henry in conversation with Laurie Murdoch.

We Can Make a Life is “beautifully written and highly engaging”, said the judges who shortlisted Chessie Henry’s powerful family memoir in the 2019 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

The memoir includes interviews with Chessie’s father Chris, a Kaikōura-based doctor who crawled through the burning CTV building after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake to rescue those who were trapped. It explores the impact of the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes on her family.

Chessie’s personal essays have been published by The Spinoff and The Wireless, and she holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the Institute of Modern Letters.