Creative writing papers at Massey University helped Sacha Jones realise the numerous notebooks she had filled with stories of her improbable Sydney childhood, might become a book for publication.
Although grief salts the air of Thom Conroy’s new novel, it is ultimately a novel about self-discovery and love.
Having brought to life in his first novel the remarkable story of the German naturalist, Dr Ernst Dieffenbach, and the controversial 1839 expedition to New Zealand to buy land from Māori, Thom Conroy now turns to contemporary fiction. In this edgy, absorbing, innovative and thoughtful work, he explores the need to place oneself within the world, especially when the relationships and places that once acted as anchors are gone.
In his new novel, Conroy tells the story of Djuna, who, while grieving for the sudden loss of her partner, Harvey, is drawn to his married brother. It’s an attraction based on shared grief, on familiarity to a dead partner, and is an affair that is impossible and wrong yet addictive. In the ‘extravagance of grief’ it seems entirely logical. Is new love a possibility or will the result be still more harm?
The novel has a sense of urgency and a compelling will-she/won’t-she element as Djuna flirts with danger, with her dead partner’s brother, or simply just running off the rails.
The novel has a fresh narrative structure, made up of a scrapbook of short chapters that echo the fragmented state of Djuna’s emotions while at the same time telling us her story.
“I’ve told it in short, lyrical vignettes. Together they all narrate a single story, of course, but I also wanted each segment to have a stand-alone quality, like a collection of prose poems,” explains Conroy. “Reading long, dense passages of historical fiction aloud as was required when I was working on The Naturalist was tough, and I think at least part of my motive for using this structure was to create fiction that could be successfully read aloud.”
Conroy strongly evokes the New Zealand landscape and people, seen through an outsider’s eyes – Djuna is casting about to find a foothold somewhere, anywhere,
having her childhood home, her secure family life and her recent love life taken from her.
Conroy says he’s always been interested in the landscape and our place in it: “I’m researching a novel set around environmental themes right now, but I’ve long been interested in the natural world, the landscape, and its relationship to us. Most people would agree that landscape influences our moods and decisions; and, in a way, I think of the landscape in The Salted Air as a character. In particular, it functions as a character who has a lot of influence over Djuna and the way she sees the world, the way she acts in the world. She’s someone who’s searching for where she belongs in the minds and hearts of others, and orientating herself in the physical world is where this process begins for her,” says Conroy.
Djuna’s loss has left her derailed and casting about for the happiness she fears may have gone for good. Her far-flung parents are going through their own dramas, her family home is now occupied by Burmese refugees, and she keeps being drawn to a man she knows she should avoid.
Cast adrift, will she follow her self-destructive urges or might she realise her journey is really a story of love?
The Salted Air is available from 1 June 2016 and will be officially launched by Bryan Walpert on Friday 3 June 2016, details below:
6.30pm for 7.00pm
Palmerston North Central Library
4 The Square
Palmerston North
RSVP by 25 May to genny.vella@pncc.govt.nz or telephone 06 351 4519
New Plymouth author, reviewer and arts critic David Hill has been named Massey University’s literary Artist-in-Residence for 2016. Mr Hill will take up the position in later this month and will be living in a self-contained flat at the Square Edge Community Arts Centre on the Square until mid-July.
Co-sponsored by Mas
sey University and the Palmerston North City Council, the visiting artist programme is a unique opportunity to support community engagement between artists in creative writing, theatre and the media arts, which includes film-making.
Mr Hill is delighted to to be awarded the reseidency and is grateful for the time it will provide to focus on his writing projects. “I’m also looking forward to being involved in Massey’s new BA Creative Writing major, which is being introduced in 2016, and especially the chance to work with high school students who may be interested in taking up this course in the future.”
Senior lecturer in Creative Writing Thom Conroy says, “Massey is really lucky to have David as the literary artist for 2016. In addition to having experience with a wide range of writers and extensive publishing accomplishments to his name, David is also in the increasingly rare position of being an author who supports himself entirely by his own writing. These characteristics make him an ideal liaison between Massey and the greater Palmerston North community. We can’t wait to have him settled in the Square Edge flat, and into his office in the newly refurbished Sir Geoffrey Peren Building.”
His novels for teenagers and children have been published in over a dozen countries. He is a past winner of the Esther Glen Medal and the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards. In 2010, he was Writer in Residence at the University of Iowa in the United States. While serving as Artist-in-Residence he intends to work on a Young Adult novel set during World War II, as well as a picture book based on the life of New Zealand aviator Jean Batten.
Mr Hill will also lead a panel on Young Adult fiction at the Palmerston North City Library on May 20, as part of Off The Page, a joint Massey University-Palmerston North City Library writing series, which has been running for over a decade. The panel will also feature writers Fleur Beale and Anna Mackenzie. Free and open to the public, Off The Page brings some of New Zealand’s finest writers to the Manawatū, including Witi Ihimaera, Elizabeth Knox, Bill Manhire, Karlo Mila, Owen Marshall, Tusiata Avia, James George and Elizabeth Smither.
Further information on the Off The Page events can be found here.
“This poem is conversational“, a poem by Massey Lecturer Bryan Walpert has been selected for inclusion in Best New Zealand Poems 2015. Also selected is Massey tutor Sarah Jane Barnett. View the entire collection here: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/iiml/bestnzpoems/BNZP15/t1-front1-d1.html.
Congratulations to the two Kiwis shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize! Both are former Massey creative writing students. Bonnie Etherington recently graduated with a Masters of Creative Writing from Massey.
http://www.booksellers.co.nz/book-news/2016-commonwealth-short-story-prize-shortlist
Many congratulations to Massey University student and tutor Tim Upperton. Tim is a creative writing PhD student studying under Associate Professor Bryan Walpert as well as a creative writing tutor on the Manawatu campus. Tim’s second collection of poetry, The Night We Ate the Baby (Haunui Press) has made the short list for the Ockham 2016 National Book Awards. The Poetry category’s convenor of judges, Elizabeth Caffin, says choosing a shortlist of four from the ten longlisted poetry collections seemed at first a breeze. “Extraordinarily, we all instantly agreed on three books: Roger Horrocks’ The Ghost in the Machine, Tim Upperton’s The Night We Ate the Baby and David Eggleton’s The Conch Trumpet.” See the link for the full story: http://www.booksellers.co.nz/…/ockham-new-zealand-book-awar…
Inspired by our innovative Expressive Arts curriculum and its focus on ‘performing the change you want to see’, Massey University College of Humanities & Social Sciences and the New Zealand Centre for Global Studies are proud to present #create1world, the first Creative Activism & Global Citizenship initiative in New Zealand.
This conference, competition and think-tank for senior highschool students will be held from 9am to 3pm, on July 1, 2016, at Massey University’s Wellington campus.
If you are in Year 11, 12 or 13, we invite you to first of all to enter our competition. It aligns with NCEA for Media Studies, English, Drama and Music so we’re sure there will be a category that you can enter.
Then, come along to the conference day on July 1, and be inspired by some of the most exciting artists of our time, and hear about their work using art to cross borders, create peace, solve planetary problems and connect diverse peoples.
The day will kick off with a global linkup showcasing creative artists (celebrity musicians, painters, filmmakers, actors and more) both local and international, who are committed to creating unity and justice through their music, theatre, and media work.
Then we’ll hear from Kiwi students – the finalists in our competition will be invited to present your own creative activism work in the areas of media studies, music, creative writing and drama, and we’ll announce winners and award prizes.
Finally, join a creative brainstorm where your ideas are heard and recorded – you could really make a difference to our future and our world.
See more detail at our website massey.ac.nz/create1world
You can also follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/team1world or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/create1world/
We look forward to seeing your creative entries and to welcoming you to the #create1world discussion on July 1.
Writers Week is fast approaching. In addition to every other excellent New Zealand Festival happening, from 8—13 March you can also get your fill of stimulating discussion in Wellington’s Embassy, BATS and Circa Theatres.
Packing quite some punch is the Gala Showcase: Fighting Talk on Thursday 10 March. Five writers who have never appeared on stage together before will share their personal stories on the theme of ‘rapprochement’ {noun: the development of friendlier relations between countries or groups}. Robert Dessaix, Mariko Tamaki, Etgar Keret, Courtney Sina Meredith and Sally Gardner are coming from all corners of the globe to be in Wellington, and each have a tale of conflict, and possibly also of resolution, to tell.
Writers Week includes sessions on running and the science of endurance, to genetics and brain surgery, selling books, special effects, slam poetry and magical worlds.
Visit the Festival website to see a full list of events: http://www.festival.co.nz/2016/writers-week/
The question ‘what is New Zealand poetry?’ is the overriding one for editor Dr Jack Ross, as he sifts through hundreds of submissions for Poetry New Zealand. His answer? We need to hear more Māori voices.
To remedy his observation that Māori poets have been overlooked in New Zealand publishing, he invited Māori poet Robert Sullivan to feature in the 50th issue and be Dr Ross’s second as managing editor of Poetry New Zealand, the country’s longest-running poetry journal. The volume includes an insightful interview with the poet canvassing a range of issues such as biculturalism, poetry and identity.
Dr Sullivan, who has Irish and Māori (Ngāpuhi) ancestry, shares his views on the ethics and entitlement of non-Māori writers using Te Reo. “I used to think if you’re not Māori you shouldn’t be using Māori terms because you don’t understand the significance, but I’ve changed my mind about that,” he says in the interview. “I think it’s better to promote the use of the language. But bringing it into poetry – well, readers of poetry can be quite pernickety. They’ll look it up, and they’ll actually deepen an understanding of Māori poetics.”
Sullivan, who heads the creative writing programme at the Manukau Institute of Technology and edited a 2014 anthology of 60 Māori poets titled Puna Wai Kōrero: An Anthology of Māori Poetry in English (AUP), says he’s discovered more Māori poets since the book was published. “The story of Māori poetry in English and the story of Pasifika poetry in English is, I think, one that still needs to be told.”
He says the National Kapa Haka competition, Te Matatini, represents hope for the future of poetry in Te Reo Māori. “They might call it dance, but the lyrics are all poetry. And it’s flourishing. It’s got its own spot on Māori television…it’s not just haka that are being performed, there are waiata, love songs, tangi.”
His ten new poems featured in Poetry New Zealand delve into childhood memories of growing up in Auckland, as well as tributes to his parents and grandparents.
In his introductory editorial, Dr Ross makes the case for biculturalism as an underpinning element in defining New Zealand poetry. “For all its faults and omissions and blind spots, the Treaty remains the foundation of our state, and we can’t ignore the principles of biculturalism embodied in it,” he writes.
And while he welcomes the concept of New Zealand “poetries” as a; “rich gamut of cultures and language which now exist in our islands expressing themselves in many languages and forms”, he feels that “no definition of New Zealand poetry which attempts to sideline or depreciate poetry and song in Te Reo can be taken seriously.”
He hopes more Māori poets will submit work in the future, in English and Te Reo Māori.
The 286-page volume, published last November by The Printery at Massey University, comprises poetry and prose poems by some 80 poets, including well-known names Elizabeth Smither, Owen Marshall, Peter Bland, Alistair Paterson, Siobhan Harvey and David Eggleton.
New Zealand poets based overseas and newcomers to New Zealand from diverse ethnic backgrounds are all part of the line-up, with a number of contributors either based in, or originating from, Bosnia, Canada, the United States, Scotland, Australia, and Japan.
Massey University writers include award-winning poet and Master of creative writing graduates Sue Wootton and Janet Newman, and award-winning poet and PhD in creative writing graduate Dr Johanna Emeney, as well as creative writing tutors Dr Matthew Harris and Dr Bronwyn Lloyd, and lecturer Dr Bill Angus.
Essays, commentary and reviews on new poetry publications by a host of local literary talents provide incisive explorations of some of the newest voices on the New Zealand poetry scene.
Dr Ross has signalled further changes to the publication, with the next issue to be published early in 2017 by Massey University Press – a new press launched in 2015 and headed by veteran publisher Nicola Legat. To shorten the length of time some contributors have had to wait for a decision, he’s decided to confine submissions to a three-month period: from May 1st to July 31st of each year, beginning in 2016.
Dr Ross – a poet, editor and critic who teaches fiction, poetry, and travel writing in the School of English and Media Studies at Massey’s Auckland campus – in 2014 replaced distinguished poet, anthologist, fiction-writer, critic and retiring editor Alistair Paterson, who oversaw Poetry New Zealand for 21 years.
The journal originated in 1951 when poet Louis Johnson began publishing his annual New Zealand Poetry Yearbook.
Was there a stand out poem for Dr Ross? “It’s hard to single out any one person from so stellar a list of contributors, but I found the two pieces sent me by young poet Emma Shi sounded to me like messages from a strange new country I’d never visited before. She is, I believe, a powerful new talent whom I hope to hear much more from in the future,” he says.
To buy a copy, click here. Read more on Dr Ross’s poetry blog or check the Poetry New Zealand Facebook page here.
By Emma Shi
skipping dead insects across the ocean
i wake up with fists clenched. the glass shimmers
and crushes under my fingers like wings. he
cites me as the one with broken knuckles. it
is easier, he says, to remember things that way.
i start to wear creased butterflies in my hair. then
stuffed in my coat pocket, wrapped in brown paper
like a parcel. on tuesdays, i carve words into
the shore: run, flight, fog. wait, watch as the
sea chases them away, and chase it back
till i’m up to my heart with water.
the last butterfly flickers away at high tide. i practise
breathing underwater but the fish gnaw at my skull
like metal. i don’t know what i’m waiting for, i
tell him, and he says, whatever’s left. so i press my skin
against seashells, forget how to breathe again.
By Dr Robert Sullivan
Māra kai
Living on the other side of the Museum now
is the adult side. Grafton is where I was a child.
The things I know now I wish I knew then!
This sensory garden does invite the skin and ears.
I can hear the soft rain, cars swishing and thrumming,
the odd bird, splashes and drips, cool spring
on my soles even through my shoes,
the pressed warmth of the back of my left knee
on top of the right one, gentle movements
of the olive leaves, native and exotic bird calls –
some like ref whistles, others on slower patterns,
tyres like Velcro tears, birds like quiet
microwave ovens, muffled roaring vehicles,
circling wheels and spray.
I see the results of rain
by the splash of puddles, and see
the occasional drop from a leaf – that sort of rain –
the occasional cluck. The breeze
is like a big beer fridge.
The sunlight and the starlight know this.
Photo by David Mackay stuff.co.nz
EMS media studies lecturers Dr Alex Bevan and Dr Kevin Veale were interviewed for a stuff.co.nz media story about Cosplay – check out their expert commentary here:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/74364898/the-weird-world-of-cosplay
