Thirty seven aspiring writers from Years 10-13 visited the Auckland Readers & Writers Festival at the Aotea Centre on Wednesday, 17 May.
The students listened to presentations from four writers, and then met them for book signings:
Glenn Colquhoun, a New Zealand poet, spoke about oral and sung poetry as a traditional way of telling stories of our history. He performed some of his “Shakas” – a cross between a sea shanty and a haka.
Jennifer Niven, writer of young adult novels All the Bright Places and Holding up the Universe, talked about writing about “the hard stuff”, including mental illness, and how her own experiences shaped her writing.
Witi Ihimaera, New Zealand author of Whale Rider and many other stories, talked about his time at high school and university, and showed clips from a stage show and ballet that he had written, before inviting students to the stage to join him in a haka.
Ivan Coyote, a Canadian storyteller/performer/author of Tomboy Survival Guide and others, shared humorous and inspirational stories about gender identity and bullying.
Each writer spoke for about 30 minutes and then took questions from the audience.