Playwright named as IIML’s inaugural Emerging Pasifika Writer in Residence

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Victoria University of Wellington’s International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) is delighted to announce the appointment of the Emerging Pasifika Writer in Residence for 2019.

Leki Jackson-Bourke, a South Auckland-based playwright of Tongan, Niuean and Samoan descent, will take up the Residency in 2019. He will use the time to complete his play For the Likes—a script about an insecure Tongan girl who seeks validation by attempting to go viral online.

Leki’s writing aims to address issues in the Pacific community and has a growing following in schools. His work includes Inky Pinky Ponky (co-written with Amanaki Prescott Faleatau) and Pring It On.

Leki says of the Residency: “This is an important moment in my journey as a young Pacific story-teller because of the responsibilities and duties that come with it. My next work aims to give space to the Pacific youth voice—a voice that I feel is currently misrepresented in the mainstream media.”

IIML Director Professor Damien Wilkins says the Residency attracted a large number of strong applications across different genres, confirming the range and quality of work from emerging Pacific writers of all ages.

Victoria University of Wellington’s Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Pasifika) Dame Luamanuvao Winnie Laban says: “It is amazing to see the breadth and depth of talent of our emerging Pasifika writers. Congratulations to Leki Jackson-Bourke on this opportunity to undertake your residency with the University’s International Institute of Modern Letters and to be taught and mentored by some of New Zealand’s best writers.”

Leki will receive a stipend of $15,000 to write and research his play at the IIML for three months, and will be mentored by leading playwright Victor Rodger. “Leki Jackson-Bourke is at the forefront of the new wave of Pasifika voices. His work is as fresh and irreverent as it is relevant,” says Mr Rodger.

Professor Wilkins says, “The large number of strong applications shows the need for this Residency. We’re delighted to have the generous support of the University and Creative New Zealand.”

 

 

 

Poetry Shelf Monday Poem: Anahera Gildea’s ‘Ahi kā’

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Ahi kā

 

At the top of the road

there is wind,

railways crossing at the corner,

of an old wooden prefab where

wine gums and popsicles, and

our feet in jandals fill

the one room dairy that is decades gone

 

toward the motorway

past the tree where Uncle hung himself,

is the highway

the marae-way.

Eels peg the line, and

Chip-dog is lazy barking.

Over the split verandah, you cross

the musty lounge, dark with the 70’s

squeeze down the hall past rooms so

clumsy you can smell the cob

 

out the window, into the land

blazing beneath this ancient copper;

we scrub on the washboard

of someone else’s clothes,

the broken down wringer where

this Auntie’s house is on the left,

that Auntie’s house is on the right;

 

the whole damn road is a gauntlet of aunties.

 

Anahera Gildea (Ngāti Raukawa-ki-te-tonga) has worked extensively as a visual and performing artist, a writer, and a teacher. She has had her poems and short stories published in multiple journals and anthologies, and her first book ‘Poroporoaki to the Lord My God: Weaving the Via Dolorosa’ was published by Seraph Press in 2016. She holds a BA in Art Theory, Graduate Diplomas in Psychology, Teaching,

 

 

 

Landfall Review on Wilson, Heath, Ricketts and Bullock

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See reviews here

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Two New Zealanders win Seizure’s Australasian novella prize: Anna Jackson and Avi Duckor-Jones

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Warm congratulations to Anna and Avi. I am thrilled to be launching poet Anna Jackson’s novella in Auckland on September 15th at Time Out Book Shop and to share the delights of both books on my blog soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry Shelf audio spot: Harry Rickett’s “Napier, Christmas 2017”

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Harry Ricketts teaches English Literature and creative non-fiction at Victoria University of Wellington. He has published over thirty books, including eleven collections of poems. “Napier, Christmas 2017” is from his latest collection Winter Eyes (Victoria University Press, 2018).

 

 

11 reasons to go to the Ladies LiteraTea on Sunday September 3rd

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terrific readings

divine afternoon tea

Anna Jackson reading poetry

I have my ticket

 

Eleven reasons why I am off to this event:

 

1.40pm Pip Desmond – ‘Song for Rosaleen’
A beautiful, compassionate but unflinching account of coping with a mother’s dementia; explores the practical & ethical dilemmas & also celebrates Rosaleen’s life.

2pm Anna Jackson – ‘Pasture and Flock’
New & selected poems from this highly regarded Victoria University Professor of English Literature. Pastoral yet gritty, intellectual & witty, sweet but with stings in their tails.

2.15pm Kate Duignan – ‘The New Ships’
A brilliant new novel set in Wellington, Europe & Asia, examining one man’s attempts to understand his own life – intimate, compassionate & absolutely absorbing.

2.35pm Amber Rose – ‘Wild Delicious’
The influences of growing up in rural NZ & travelling widely overseas, converge in this irresistible cookbook that prepares natural, seasonal ingredients to be eaten with delight.

 

2.55pm Afternoon Tea – With lamingtons, melting moments, asparagus rolls and more!

 

3.35pm Tess Redgrave – ‘Gone to Pegasus’
Beautifully capturing Dunedin in 1892, this wonderful debut novel explores music & the role of women & their friendships, just as Women’s Suffrage in NZ is about to happen.

3.55pm Dr. Jo Cribb – ‘Don’t Worry About the Robots
How to Survive & Thrive in the New World of Work. From former CEO of the Ministry for Women & current CEO of the Book Council, exciting ideas & practical tools for the future.

4.15pm Eileen Merriman – ‘Catch Me When You Fall’ and ‘Pieces of You’
This full-time consultant haematologist at North Shore Hospital has won awards for her short stories & both her brilliant young adult novels are finalists in this year’s NZ Book Awards.

4.35pm Jo Thorpe – ‘This Thin Now’
The story of love lost & the places the poet goes to find it still – from inside the space two hands make, to the numinous blue of sea & sky. Poems of dazzle & quiet – a rare gift.

4.50pm Dame Fiona Kidman – ‘This Mortal Boy’
An utterly compelling recreation of the events leading to one of the last hangings in NZ (1955). This beloved writer brings young Albert (Paddy) back to life – heart-wrenching.

5.10pm Megan Dunn – ‘Tinderbox’
Riffing on Ray Bradbury’s classic novel ‘Fahrenheit 451’, a brilliantly witty exploration of literature & culture, books & bookshops, aspiring authors, & life in the 21st century.

 

 

Monday Poem: Anahera Gildea’s ‘Ahi kā’

Leave a reply

 

 

Ahi kā

 

At the top of the road

there is wind,

railways crossing at the corner,

of an old wooden prefab where

wine gums and popsicles, and

our feet in jandals fill

the one room dairy that is decades gone

 

toward the motorway

past the tree where Uncle hung himself,

is the highway

the marae-way.

Eels peg the line, and

Chip-dog is lazy barking.

Over the split verandah, you cross

the musty lounge, dark with the 70’s

squeeze down the hall past rooms so

clumsy you can smell the cob

 

out the window, into the land

blazing beneath this ancient copper;

we scrub on the washboard

of someone else’s clothes,

the broken down wringer where

this Auntie’s house is on the left,

that Auntie’s house is on the right;

 

the whole damn road is a gauntlet of aunties.

 

©Anahera Gildea
Anahera Gildea (Ngāti Raukawa-ki-te-tonga) has worked extensively as a visual and performing artist, a writer, and a teacher. She has had her poems and short stories published in multiple journals and anthologies, and her first book ‘Poroporoaki to the Lord My God: Weaving the Via Dolorosa’ was published by Seraph Press in 2016. She holds a BA in Art Theory, Graduate Diplomas in Psychology, Teaching, and Performing Arts, and a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Victoria University.