Moana Speaks from the South
New Zealand Young Writers Festival, 2024
Listen to the podcast here
‘We sweat and cry salt water so we know the ocean is really in our blood’ (Teaiwa, 2017). Writers of Te Moana-Nui-a Kiwa swim with their words; our narratives are embodied, visceral and deeply intertwined with our senses of self. In this panel discussion, 2024 Guest Curator Ruby Macomber (Rotuma, Ngāpuhi) talks to Emele Ugavule (Sauniveiuto, Serua, Fiji vasu Nukunonu, Tokelau kei Alele, Hihifo, Uvea), Zech Soakai (Poutasi, Upolu, Samoa & Pangai, Ha'apai, Tonga) and Stacey Kokaua (Ngāti Arerā (Rarotonga), Ngati Pāmati, Pākehā) about what it means to be geographically separated from the heartbeat of their whenua but to write in proximity to whakapapa, and to (re)imagine the moana through the beauty and complexity of contemporary diasporic identities. They also explore creative techniques that keep their bodies and narratives in conversation.
Whose stori is it anyways?
New Zealand Young Writers Festival, 2024
This participatory workshop explores the relational aspects of the storying process. Emele Ugavule (Sauniveiuto, Serua, Fiji vasu Nukunonu, Tokelau kei Alele, Hihifo, Uvea), Makanaka Tuwe and Natasha Ratuva (iTaukei) from the Studio Kiin collective will guide attendees through an immersive experience. Incorporating Indigenous-led movement practices and collective reading and writing, Whose stori is it anyways? calls to the centre the relationship writers have with the themes, characters, communities, peoples and cultures they write about.