The last-minute nature of author Annie Proulx' visit to Dunedin, and a desire to keep it "intimate" and free were behind a decision not to shift her talk to a larger venue.
There has been disappointment for those unable to get tickets for the event, after it was fully booked before advertising or promotions.
Proulx (75) won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel The Shipping News.
Her short story, Brokeback Mountain, was adapted into an award-winning film, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.
The author was originally to speak in Christchurch, but the lecture was transferred to Dunedin Public Library after the Christchurch earthquake.
Library marketing co-ordinator Lynette Hartgill said last week the response had been overwhelming, with the 120-seat venue at the library booked out ahead of planned promotions and newspaper articles.
Organisers were also mindful of "the sad circumstances surrounding our good fortune".
"For this reason, we have decided to keep the event intimate rather than transferring the event to a bigger commercial venue," Ms Hartgill said.
Asked to elaborate yesterday, she said the library was approached and "given five minutes to make a decision".
"Luckily, we've got the room upstairs which holds 120 people. We jumped, and said, `Yes, that would be fantastic'."
The library did not anticipate the event being booked out so fast and, while the idea of changing the venue was discussed with the author's publisher and book seller, "we decided together we would keep it in an intimate setting".
"A commercial venue would have incurred costs and we would have had to charge," she said. "We didn't want to make a profit."
People attending the event would have the opportunity to make a donation to the Red Cross Appeal for Christchurch.
The University Book Shop was donating 10% of its book sales to the Christchurch Earthquake Fund.
