Turning the Page
Some thoughts from the Auckland Writers Festival.
UPDATE: This post quickly reached 100 likes, so I’m now making it available to everyone. A huge thank you to all my awesome paying subscribers for your support - I could not do this without you!
Your love is my turning page
Where only the sweetest words remain
Every kiss is a cursive line
Every touch is a redefining phrase
Songwriter: Ryan O'Neal
Morena folks, today I’d like to share a little about the Writers Festival we’ve just had in Tamaki Makaurau and where my mind went as I listened to various sessions.
To begin, I’ll break the sessions into three main groups, although this categorisation is, of course, based on the sessions I chose to attend.
International Affairs with overseas speakers
Local topics with Kiwi writers
Non-fiction; particular novels or aspects of the writing craft.
I’ll concentrate on the first two, given the political focus of this newsletter, although I very much enjoyed the others, and have a list of books to read.
For anyone interested in the logistics, perhaps for next time, a ten-ticket concession was $220, roughly the cost of a single ticket to a major international band. Fi joined me at some of the sessions, around 25% of which are free, and there was no need to book those; you could walk in until they reached capacity.
And boy was it full!
With so many folks happily entering and exiting the various sessions, I hope this doesn’t offend anyone, but it was like a Big Day Out for the third age.
And what a lovely audience they were: attentive, enthusiastic, and intelligent. Many in the audience had lived through significant change and emerged with liberal values intact.
It made me wish more of our nation were like that, and it was lovely to meet some of you and hear about the sessions you’d enjoyed.
In the international category, I saw:
Wokeness.
I found Grayling’s description of woke and the “war on woke” interesting. He said being woke essentially means caring about the rights of others, and that doing so doesn’t impact the rights of others who already have such rights, but it may affect their interests.
From that, we get the anti-woke crowd, who may claim that their rights are infringed, such as their freedom of speech, but that isn’t their genuine concern; mostly, they’re worried that if others gain access to things they already have, they might have less.
He spoke of wokeness being a continuation of efforts since the Second World War to expand the rights of women, gay people, and ethnic minorities. Efforts that don’t impact those who already have rights but may be perceived, perhaps with the assistance of vested interests, as threatening.
Go back a generation, and we used to call it political correctness, and instead of things being “woke”, it was all PC gone mad. And if you haven’t noticed, now that the conservative right has lost the fight on homosexuality and gay marriage, they have gone after Trans people. Not because they represent any undue risk to others, but simply because they are an easy target.
The outside world.
Much of the discussion on current world events was understandably dark.
There was talk of the last seventy years of progress on human rights being an anomaly, and that for most of the rest of history, people had lacked rights we now take for granted. That we may be returning to such a state for the long term.
There was mention that life in some parts of the world has never changed from the despotism that existed previously, and towards which the US, in particular, seems to be hurtling.
Multiple speakers voiced concern over the Tech billionaires’ subservience toward Trump. That the likes of Bezos and Zuckerberg had determined that kissing the ring served their business interests, just as the industrialists of pre-war Germany had kowtowed to Mr Hitler.
While the vision was bleak, it was tempered by the fact that Trump is ultimately weak and that, although he likes to push extreme, some might say insane, positions, he soon backs down when confronted with resistance.
Some speakers joked that our best bet was to hope we were small enough and insignificant enough that no one would notice us. However, as we know, dear readers, sooner or later, the storms beyond eventually reach even the hobbits in the Shire.
In my view, with the right government, Aotearoa can navigate the worst of these tides without losing our shirts or our soul. We can still maintain an independent voice of reason, which is crucial in today's world. Although we’d need the right government, and it sure isn’t this one.
Local Stories
I went to:
The feeling I had coming away from these sessions was that we have lost so much by not continuing with the societal reset after Covid, which had the potential to lead to a greater emphasis on people and ensuring they have the essentials, rather than on making money.
Additionally, it made me think of those who close themselves off from the history of our land, or from seeking to understand the concerns over legislation that aims to reduce the role of Te Tiriti.
Those who fear progress and seek to reverse it, out of a belief that it impinges on their interests. They are missing the opportunity to feel more grounded here, to be more comfortable sharing Aotearoa, and to be happier, as Max Harris described his feelings about being Tangata Tiriti.
Our Pandemic
The session on our pandemic response contained wonderful memories of the time.
Lavinia McGee-Repia, chair of Ruapotaka Marae, spoke about assisting families, regardless of race, with food and other essential items.
Of how her teenage grandson, and other moko, had been reluctant to help with delivering parcels, as teenagers often are, but when they saw the impact on those they were helping, the children had sung to them. Rather than being reluctant, they were eager to help again, and Lavina spoke warmly of the ongoing positive impact it has left on her grandson’s life.
She also spoke of his Grandfather passing due to Covid during lockdown and the pain felt to this day by those unable to farewell the much-respected kaumatua as they would have wished.
Dr Kimiora Raerino discussed the role of marae as hubs of information, addressing uncertainty among people, and the determination they had, and would have again, to do what was right for the greater good, even if not everyone on the marae agreed.
It’s hard not to think that other groups could learn from this intent to prioritise the greater good over the needs of individuals.
The third speaker, Shaun Hendy, shared a lovely anecdote about the day he was walking up Lampton Quay on his way to brief Jacinda Ardern and the relevant ministries about our vaccine rollout plan, only for his shoe to fall apart.
It was ninety minutes before the shoe shops opened, so with no alternative, Shaun found that he could keep the shoe intact by keeping his heel on the ground and moonwalking to the meeting.
This being a wet day, he of course dragged himself through all the puddles. Once he arrived and was waiting, a pool of water appeared around his shoe. Fortunately, nobody said anything. It was a lovely glimpse into what was happening behind the scenes.
Shaun also talked about the decision not to extend lockdowns, and that it ran contrary to scientific advice and the wishes of Maori, but was done because the government was worried about a racist backlash. I was saddened to hear that, but given what we’ve seen since, it’s not surprising.
Those hosting the sessions will give you an idea of the tone - Toby Manhire, Michelle A’Court, Simon Wilson, and Moana Maniapoto - all were fabulous. Speakers were quite open about their thoughts on Trump, Musk, and our government. In one session, Mr Seymour even became he-who-will-not-be-named.
Considering the arts were involved, it’s not surprising that those on stage and in the audience tended to be left-wing, or perhaps to put it another way, focused on the lives of people. However, I was struck by the fact that more than one writer didn’t merely allude to the nature of our government, but implored people to change the government and vote them out.
As I say, perhaps no surprise, but I saw it as a testament to just how awful this government is, as it divides us by targeting various groups and distracts us with silly non-issues, while pulling the landscape from beneath us.
Whether it is sharing this land based on Te Tiriti, focusing on science rather than political expediency in the event of the next pandemic, or navigating our troubled world, all of these are better if we replace this government.
You all know that, of course, but it was good to hear it echoed in the words of these fine writers.
I hope that gives you a small taste of the Festival, or my path through it. I’m afraid I won’t be able to reply to comments this morning, as I’m off to meet reader Vivienne for coffee and then to visit my folks.
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Nga mihi,
Nick.
To end today, Turning Page by Sleeping At Last.
Morena, all, if this one gets a hundred likes by mid-afternoon, I'll open it up. Otherwise, it is paywalled.
Hi all, if you know of upcoming events, protests, or places of interest yell out. I’m keen to hit the road and not focus on Auckland things.