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Massey University and Square Edge Visiting Writer 2019 – Pip Desmond

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Massey University and Square Edge Visiting Writer 2019 to work on Topical True Story

Massey University’s School of English and Media Studies and Square Edge Community Arts are excited to be hosting award-winning nonfiction author Pip Desmond as the Visiting Artist for 12 weeks from March 2019. Desmond will be working on the true story of a family faced with the suicide of their 21-year-old son while in the care of a DHB acute mental health unit.

Say creative writing lecturers, Dr Thom Conroy and Dr Tina Makereti:

“We had 63 applications this year, and we would have liked to support many of these for different reasons. We were lucky to see some very strong projects and writers. However, in the end, Pip’s project emerged as the most compelling and urgent, due to its subject matter. We note that just as we were making our final decision, the media reported the Coroner’s ruling that the young man’s death was avoidable. Though not related to our decision, this news was confirmation that the work Pip Desmond is doing is extremely timely and relevant, particularly to young people and mental health support systems in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

Desmond has an impressive publication record, which includes the New Zealand Post Award-winning Trust: A True Story of Women and Gangs (2010) and The War That Never Ended: New Zealand Veterans Remember Korea (2013). Her latest memoir, Song for Rosaleen, has been longlisted for the 2019 Ockham NZ Book Awards.

Desmond explains about her new project:

“My aim in telling this story is to shed light on issues that deeply affect our society: how we deal with mental illness and our burgeoning suicide epidemic, involvement of families in their loved ones’ care, political responses at district health board and government level, and the tragic pattern of inter-generational suicide created by Māori dispossession.”

While she is resident, Desmond will collaborate with the School of English and Media Studies at Massey University, Square Edge Community Arts and the Palmerston North writing community to share her work and writing experience. She has a particular interest in ethics in creative writing, and presented a TEDxTalk about the topic in Wellington, which can be viewed on YouTube.

We’re also very pleased to announce that our 2020 Massey University and Square Edge Arts Visiting Writer will be New Zealand speculative fiction writer and three time Sir Julius Vogel award winner Octavia Cade. 2020 is a great year to highlight an exciting New Zealand science fiction writer, since Wellington will be hosting the 78th World Science Fiction Convention, CoNZealand.

For more information about Pip Desmond, Octavia Cade, or the visiting artist residency, contact Anne Meredith (email: A.M.Meredith@massey.ac.nz) or Thom Conroy (Phone: +64 6 9517508; email: t.conroy@massey.ac.nz).

Massey Theatre Cleans Up at Regional Awards

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The Regional Theatre Awards this year played host to a myriad of theatre companies from all across the Manawatu, and amongst the throng of talent shone Massey Community Theatre, made up of students and staff from Massey University’s varied drama programmes…and swept the night away with not one, not two, but five wins to their name.

In the spotlight was Firing Line, a piece of street theatre devised, written and performed by 139.333 Creativity In The Community’s class of 2018. Drawing on themes and imagery that evoked Palmerston North’s place in the First World War, the performance took out both the “Best Ensemble” and “Best Original Script and Production” awards for its skilled, colourful cast and engaging presentation. The show’s technical support team made up of Luke Anderson, Leith Haarlhoff, Sean Monaghan and NZ composer David Downes was not forgotten either, winning the “Technical Design and Operation” award for their enthralling multimedia work that turned Firing Line into such a spectacle.

Two Massey University School of English and Media Studies staff members also received individual awards; technician Luke Anderson won the “Gordon Alve Memorial Award in Technical Excellence”, and Professor Angie Farrow, known internationally as an award-winning playwright and coordinator of theatre papers at Massey, received the prestigious “Lifetime Achievement in Theatre Award”.

Massey Community Theatre endeavours to create further award-winning performances – and people – moving forward.

Wellington Create1World Workshops

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Create1World 2018 – Wellington Afternoon Workshop Options

If you are attending Create1World Wellington, you will be aware that after we have enjoyed our amazing panel, and seen the youth finalists, you get to be hands-on yourself in afternoon workshops.  To ensure you don’t miss out, please pre-select one of the workshop options below by clicking on the link below its description, then providing your name.  Please note, workshops have size limits – if your preferred workshop is full, you will need to return to this page and select another option by clicking a different link. If you have any questions please email us on cre8oneworld@gmail.com  We look forward to seeing you at Create1World Wellington on November 15! On the day, we will have helpers on hand to take you to your workshop room.

Workshop Option 1: Telling Stories through Theatre.

(Size limit 20.)  Room: 5D14

Presented by:  Rachel Lenart. Rachel is an award winning theatre director, most recently seen at Circa theatre with ‘Modern Girls In Bed’, by Cherie Jacobson and Alex Lodge and ‘Constellations’, by Nick Payne. She teaches theatre studies at Massey University with a focus on production training and dramaturgy.

This will be a fun, interactive workshop that will explore techniques of physical storytelling. You will be involved in developing narrative ideas and discovering how theatre can give a simple story new meaning and depth.   No previous experience of theatre is required.

To register for Theatre with Rachel, click here: https://goo.gl/forms/90a7WqZN9rXMp0Kq2
Workshop Option 2: Creative Writing: Your heart is your gate. 

(Size limit 20.)  Room:  5D17

Presented by: Massey University Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, Dr Thom Conroy.  Thom is the author of the novels The Naturalist and The Salted Air. He is the editor of a collection of essays, Home. His short fiction has been recognised by Best American Short Stories 2012 and has won other awards. In 2013, he received a Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching. He has extensive experience supervising Master of Creative Writing and PhD students in fiction.

Looking inward with clarity and honesty can enhance your capacity to look outward as a compassionate agent of change. In this hands-on creative writing workshop, Thom Conroy will facilitate a process of creative writing and discussion designed to link the concerns and experiences of participants with creating the change they would like to see in the world.

To register for Creative Writing with Thom, click here: https://goo.gl/forms/7zROmS3P4QKhFW1n1
Workshop Option 3:  How to shoot an impactful interview. 

(Size limit 15.)  Room: 5D21

Presented by: Massey University media studies lecturer Costa Botes (multi-award-winning documentary film-maker, who has work that has qualified to be considered at the Oscars!).

Film is a visual medium. Words are not enough. The truth needs creative help sometimes. In documentaries, information is often delivered via a talking head. How that information is received can be influenced by technical and stylistic choices made by the film-maker. Elements like camera angle, camera height, lens size, depth of field, lighting, and subject eye-line can all affect emotional impact.

In this workshop, participants will be shown via practical demonstration how these key elements can be consciously employed and controlled, then get the chance to try them out themselves.

To sign up for Impactful Interviews with Costa, click here: https://goo.gl/forms/krmERW03tzJ5wGcG2
Workshop Option 4: Feminist Media Practice.

(Size limit 30). Room: 5D12

Presented by: Dr Claire Henry. Claire teaches screenwriting and filmmaking in Massey’s digital media production courses. She has written and directed several short films screened in film festivals across Europe and Australia, and in New York. As a film theorist, she also has expertise in genre, national cinema, and the cultural politics and ethics of screen violence.

From the Guerrilla Girls to Who Needs Feminism?, be inspired by the history of feminist media-based activism in zines, posters, billboards, photography, and social media campaigns. Explore how mainstream media play a role in sharing, reinforcing and policing social ideas about gender, and how you can use media as an artistic catalyst for social change. In this workshop, we’ll explore – and attack! – sexism with creative media-based interventions.

To register for Feminist Media Practice with Claire, click here: https://goo.gl/forms/ltAFNj7mb38bxB9I3
Workshop Option 5: Protest Through Performance Poetry.

(Size limit 20). Room: 5C11

Presented by: Associate Professor Elspeth Tilley. Elspeth is an award-winning playwright and passionate advocate of the arts for social change (she’s also your Create1World conference convenor).  She was the storytelling facilitator for Te Hā Tangata human library, and runs a fortnightly community-based creative writing and performance poetry workshop at Te Whare Hupa with Te Hā Tangata graduates.

In this practical workshop you will build confidence, and learn a combination of written and oral skills to craft a compelling piece of performance poetry.  Last but not least, you will get to feel the unrivalled joy of freeing your inner voice for change, and letting it loose in a supportive environment.

To register for Performance Poetry with Elspeth, click here: https://goo.gl/forms/9HBlNICTyafUP48c2
Workshop Option 6: Wikipedia Inclusiveness Editathon.

(Size limit 15.) Room: Wellington Campus Library Room 5B18.

Presented by: Dr Elena Maydell and Barbara Scott. Elena has published widely on cultural and racial stereotypes in the New Zealand media, as well as on how these stereotypes translate into barriers for minority groups. Barbara is your regional Massey recruitment advisor – you may have met her in your school! She’s also the organiser of feminist arts events, including for The Dowse museum.

In the worldwide Wikipedia Editor Survey (2011) of all the Wikipedias, 91% of respondents were male, and the greatest number, or plurality, of editors resided in the United States. We also know that Wikipedia editors tend to be those with sustained access to technology and the internet, and with sufficient income to create ‘disposable’ (leisure) time to spend editing Wikipedia. Your average Wikipedia editor is most certainly not a woman of colour working three jobs to achieve a living wage.

This of course skews the information that is available on Wikipedia, because what is included is what is perceived to be of relevance by the majority of editors.

This “digital blind spot” particularly manifests itself in a gender gap, which makes it difficult for women – and in our case we are interested in female artists and activists — to find their own predecessors. As editor-activist Sierra Carlson has commented, “the danger is that if information is not in the database, people may conclude that the missing information is not notable or valuable”. Editing Wikipedia to add notable women and their achievements thus becomes of itself an act of protest and inclusiveness.

In this workshop, you will learn some basic tools for Wikipedia editing, and be provided with resources about notable women whose achievements are absent or partial on Wikipedia. You will work in teams to start to change that situation.

To register for Wikipedia Editathon with Elena and Barbara, click here: https://goo.gl/forms/JtViEQQlZiTOzsQS2

 

 

 

 

 

Create1World Flyer

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Want some Create1World 2018 info to put up on your class noticeboard? Here’s our latest flyer.  Click here  Create1World 2018 Flyer PDF  for a PDF for you to download!

Create1World 2018

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Create1World 2018

Nau mai, haere mai. Welcome to the Create1World Competition and Conference information pages – Join us to create one world through expressive arts and creativity! Hono atu ki te whakataetae Create1World.  Mahi tahi mo te rangimarie.

Massey University invites high school students in years 9-13 to enter the 2018 Create1World competition, and/or to join us for a fabulous day of creative inspiration including local and international panellists answering your questions, along with performances, workshops and activities.

The competition asks you to produce a creative piece that encourages audiences to join together as a global community and solve some of the big problems we face as a planet.  It could be a video, song, poem, short story, speech or theatre performance – your choice – but it must help us think about ways of working collaboratively for the betterment of all humanity. There are cash prizes!

“We are still raving about it.” (Teacher, Wellington)

The conference days are free to attend, and give you a feast of creative inspiration from other young people and leading artivists (that’s artists who use their creativity to generate change)!  There’s one conference at Massey Wellington, 9am – 3pm on November 15, and one at Massey Auckland, 9am – 3pm on November 22.  We provide morning tea and lunch, a goody bag, and a wealth of information and inspiration about creativity and global citizenship.

If you already know you want to come to a Create1World conference day near you – please register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeNlSNKwVI01F44LTWZ0uiyuYKP0JsUi1EcbPZo3JH33UCvOw/viewform Registration for the Auckland event has been extended until 5pm on November 8, 2018.

You can attend a conference day without having to enter the competition – but we really hope you’ll do both! It’s great to see what ideas everyone has and share our own Kiwi young people’s creativity alongside our featured local and international artists’ stories about their successful creative journeys.

We are very grateful to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO for supporting Create1World, including with prizes, and travel support for participants (if your school needs help with travel for students, please contact us on cre8oneworld@gmail.com to discuss – we want to see wide participation at Create1World!).

If you’d still like a bit more of a sense of what it’s like to come to a Create1World Conference before you sign up, check out the Radio New Zealand story here: http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/standing-room-only/audio/201807707/creative-activism

So get creating and registering, and come join us for Create1World 2018!

“Thank you so much for such an amazing conference today. I had little to no idea what was going to happen and it completely blew my mind how well put together it was. It was so interesting and fascinating to hear different perspectives from not only the panel internationally and domestically, but as well as from teachers/tutors within Massey University. Thank you so much once again❤️” (Student, Auckland)

 

Massey drama students explore free speech and control in play

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The importance of speaking out and the pervasive effect of keeping silent transcends the ages in a play being staged in Palmerston North.

Massey University students will tap into Greek mythology and the #metoo movement for their production, The Love of the Nightingale.

The 1988 play by Timberlake Wertenbaker is based on the Greek myth of Philomele, who was raped and silenced brutally by her brother-in-law Tereus.

The play touches on themes of feminism, silence and power, as Philomele regains her voice.  Director and senior theatre tutor Rachel Lenart said using Greek mythology was a great way to highlight contemporary problems.

“We always try to do something with political and social resonance.

“With the #MeToo movement very much alive, it’s an interesting time for us to perform this play.”

It challenges the audience to think about times when they should have spoken up about something but didn’t.

“The characters are always on stage watching in, like society watching the action unfold. They’re allowed to react accordingly,” Lenart said.

She drew inspiration from a quote by German playwright Bertolt Brecht.

“Art is not a mirror to reflect society, but a hammer with which to shape it.”

The cast is made up of first-year students studying drama in performance, which can also be taken by older students for their elective studies.

It provides an opportunity for new actors to mix with and learn from more established actors in a safe environment.

Lenart said interest in theatre at Massey is on the rise, and past students are returning to volunteer behind the scenes.

“Massey is one of few options for theatre in Palmerston North. It’s a lot of responsibility.

“You don’t have to move to Wellington to do theatre. We are as interesting as anywhere.”

The Love of the Nightingale will be performed at Massey University’s Sir Geoffrey Peren Auditorium, Thursday and Friday, at 7pm. Entry is by koha.

Summer Shakepeare brings ‘The Comedy of Errors’ to the Esplande, Palmerston North

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Summer Shakespeare director Peter Hambleton has presented the Bard in Palmerston North before.

In 2009 he directed Summer Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well on the car park in front of the Esplanade Scenic Railway station, incorporating the miniature trains as part of the action.

For this year’s The Comedy of Errors, which opens in the Esplanade Rose Gardens on Thursday, Hambleton has moved from miniature trains to model boats.

When the audience arrive, they will be greeted by a small flotilla of model boats bobbing on the Esplanade Rose Garden pond.

“The community aspect of the production is really important to me. I’ve done a few Summer Shakespeare productions now and celebrating and involving the community, and making it fun for the audience is all part of the Summer Shakespeare spirit,” Hambleton said.

The models are being provided by Maurice Job, a member of the Palmerston North Aeroneers.

“The Comedy of Errors is a story about seafaring and shipwrecks, and Maurice has a wonderful collection of model boats. What we’d like is for people to bring their own models and add them to the fleet on the pond.”

For Sunday’s Esplanade Day 2pm matinee, Hambleton is expecting Job to turn up with a large model of a battleship.

Boats wouldn’t be the only models on show during the hour-and-a-half long play-through production.

“Nic Green has constructed a replica clocktower that will appear in the show. You’ll have to come along that to see why that is.”

As well as the teamwork and collaboration involving “a raft of people from across town”, Hambleton said he had attracted a great cast, including several local theatre award-winners.

“The play is about two sets of twins separated at birth and brought up in different countries. They get together again during one day in the city of Ephesus.”

In a gender-bending twist to the comic tale about double mistaken identity, Hambleton has the lead male characters played by women, and some of the female roles played by men, with the setting a thoroughly contemporary one.

“Shakespeare wrote this play with Palmerston North 2018 in mind. It has taken all this time for this startling piece of information to be revealed,” Hambleton said.

Expect some fast-paced action around the Rose Garden fishpond, with entry to the five 7pm and one 2pm performances by koha. There will be no wet weather venue, and any affected performance will be postponed until the next fine evening.

Massey PhD student wins 2017 The Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems

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Janet Newman is the 2017 winner of The Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems, given by the International Writers Workshop, for her sequence Tender. The $1000 prize was judged by Auckland poet Robert Sullivan. Tender is a seven poem sequence about Janet’s father, Doug Newman (1919-2008). Janet, a runner-up in the prize in 2014, has a Masters of Creative Writing through the School of English & Media Studies at Massey University and is presently a PhD student at Massey, where she is exploring New Zealand’s long history of environmentally-oriented poetry and writing a collection of original ecopoems.

Inmates explore morals in Greek theatre

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Inmates performed an abridged version of an Ancient Greek play, using puppets.

Is pride the ultimate crime? It is a big moral question that a group of inmates at Auckland Prison explored when they performed an Ancient Greek play using puppets, in a partnership between the prison and Massey University.

The project involved seven inmates who staged an abridged version of Antigone, by Sophocles (written around 441 BC) last week. The aim was to cultivate the performance skills and confidence of the participants, says Dr Rand Hazou. He is a senior lecturer in theatre, based in the School of English and Media Studies at the Auckland campus. Along with storyteller and theatre-maker Derek Gordon, he led the Theatre Behind Bars project at the prison in Paremoremo through his interest in community theatre and social change.

He says theatre can provide a constructive platform through which prison inmates are able to explore deeper personal, family and social issues, giving them the opportunity to develop creative and communication skills, as well as understandings of human behaviour through storytelling.

The production, Puppet Antigone, by the group called the Unit 9 Theatre Group, built on a series of introductory theatre workshops Dr Hazou organised at the prison in May and June. The latter was facilitated by Canadian theatre director David Diamond, artistic and managing director of the Vancouver based company Theatre for Living. “As a result of these initial engagements, a small theatre group has developed at the prison that is interested in continuing to engage with theatre practice,” Dr Hazou says.

Inmates at Auckland Prison at Paremoremo performing the Greek play, Antigone. (photo/supplied)

Old play but relevant story

He says the show went well, and the response of the 40 audience members – made up of prison staff and invited guests, including some Massey staff, and a large contingent of inmates – was overwhelming.

“This was wicked! I’ve never done anything like this before, and even though it is an old play, we understood the story,” one of the actors said. “I’ve also learned about the power of standing still in one place when acting, but using my arms, voice, and facial expressions, especially my eyes, to communicate with the audience.”

Kellie Paul, Principal Advisor Rehabilitation and Learning at Auckland Prison, says that participating in Antigone was “a powerful and challenging experience for the men involved in the Theatre Behind Bars project.

“They really had to push the boundaries. The actors also had to memorise complex lines in a short period of time, and learn how to manipulate puppets for the first time to add dramatic effect to their performance. Auckland Prison is privileged to have access to the expertise of Rand and Derek to help the prisoners explore their strengths, improve their learning and education, and develop their self-confidence.”

While the utterances and dilemmas of Ancient Greek characters may seem far removed from the realities of New Zealand prison life in the 21st century, Dr Hazou says the play provides “a creative opportunity for inmates to cultivate their emotional, physical and literacy skills by adapting a classic written play into performance.”

After all, the play hinges on a key quote from Tiresias, one of the main characters: “All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.”

The play tells the story of Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, who insists on giving her dead brother, Polynices, a form of ritual burial in keeping with divine laws. But her brother has been ruled a traitor by her uncle, King Creon, who has decreed that anyone caught giving burial rites will be executed. The play questions whether Antigone should follow her heart and insist that family responsibilities and religious rites are more important than the city’s law. Or should she bow to her uncle and king and follow the responsibilities expected of a citizen to the state?

“The play raises important questions about ethics, standing up for what is right, and not bowing to authority. But it also raises questions about pride, which is described in the play as ‘the only crime’ that men make,” Dr Hazou says.

Kellie Paul (Principal Advisor Rehabiltation and Learning at Auckland Prison); Derek Gordon and Dr Rand Hazou (Massey Unversity); with Simon Chaplin (Assistant Prison Director, Auckland Prison). (photo/supplied)

Why the play Antigone?

By exploring the primal and universal desire to respect the dead with due rites and the sacred obligation to provide the dead a dignified transition from the land of the living to the world of ancestors, the play holds cultural resonances with Aotearoa, he says.

“Māori tikanga are well-known for rituals and protocols to deal with the dead, and the conflict in Antigone would be immediately recognised by Māori and Pākehā alike. The play also highlights the conflict between men and women in a patriarchal society and demonstrates the harsh and tragic consequences for one woman who decides to stand up to this patriarchal power.”