Anna Hodge, Senior editor of Auckland

 University Press.

It was great having the senior editor Anna Hodge in to talk to us about the processes of publication. She gave us some advice on the fact that we should always write for ourselves. She did also say that Auckland Uni Press only publish non-fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry, as a fiction writer it'd be harder for me to get recognized but that's okay, I'm able to publish through other local publishers. She talked about how fresh and new ideas are the way to go. 

Eboni Waitere, Huia Publisher.

Eboni Watere is one of Huia's publishers that publish Maori and Pacific Islander content. It was great to hear the advice she was willing to give if we ever were keen to publish through them. As a fiction writer that wants to start locally before going international, Huia seems like a good option. From all the other publishing companies, Huia does things different that sets them apart from every one else. Even if the work is not up to standard and needs a little refining, Huia will set the writers up with a mentor to help them become better.

Collaboration & Blog

I've been having trouble with whether the piece that i was going to put forth was worthy or not. This was going to be my first feature in a zine which in my case is pretty exciting therefore putting something that meant something to me meant a lot. I decided on a prose piece called Dear cool f$#k boy, it was inspired by a very close friend of mine and it was something i stood proudly for.

Dear cool fuck boy

How are you?

Hows life?

Hmm..

Nah, scratch that.

To be quite honest

I don't give a shit how you are.

I don't even know why I'm bothering to

write to your stupid ass.

I guess it's to warn others of your kind.

Don't give me that look like you don't

know what I'm on about, you know exactly

what kind of guy you were.

The sweet talker who wears the latest cuts,

and has fan girls left, right and centre

with a reputation of being a MVP at scoring

in the game.

I know you, boo

You ain't stupid as you seem. You know exactly what's up

The times when you gave me the same snap chat

of you half naked to 5 other girls.

Hash tagging me as 'sexy' on my selfies

when you thought my best friend's one was too.

I see you.

Clad and clean in Jordans, snap back with pearly whites.

Oh I see you alright, don't you worry.

'Cause so do your side chicks and baby mama's.

When you knew you had me, hook, line, and sinker

I was done.

You had me on lock, swallowed the key

no way out.

I was blinded by the bullshit you were so

good at feeding me with.

Planting seeds of reassurance in my head,

'You are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen'

'Baby, no worries? She doesn't mean jack to me.'

'I promise, babe. I would never look at another. I ain't no man hoe.'

You weren't.

You were just another cool fuck boy.

Tryna get into my sweet, tight size 10 jeans.

Please, boo.

I know you, and guess what?

I am no longer fooled by guys like you.

I remember all my friends warning me.

Telling me you were just using me.

Giving me the 'don't come crying to me' lecture.

I didn't listen and at the end of the day, I lost my dignity,

self-respect and virginity. I learned my lesson.

Paid for my mistakes.

And here's to you.

Without your bull shit, I wouldn't have found

a man that loves me for me.

Who works for our future.

Whose eyes never leave mine for another

Who pays his bills with what he earned and

not the swag he gained from laying girls down.

I pity the next girl that you sink your teeth

into.

And I hope she has more brain than I ever did.

Lord knows everyone who comes

across you do.

I won't lie I did fall for you.

Cause when I did, you weren't just any

fling, crush or romance.

You were my cool fuck boy.

x

Francis Hansen, Visual Artist.

Francis Hansen is one of the visual arts lecturers here at MIT. She graced us with her presence and even though she wasn't a writer she was able to explain the process in which she published her first book. She created an adorable book called Keepsakes, it was created as a wedding present for her younger sister,Fashion designer Fleur Wood. Her sister encouraged her to turn the present, that was a book full of recipes of home into a published book. She was already known by the publishers at Harding Grant publications  and it was easier her to do the book there. She went through so many months designing each and every page of her amazing cook book, incorporating both the written and visual in one. 

Shelly Davis, Business owner/writer

Shelly Davis was the epitome of inspirational. She walked in with so much warmth everyone immediately were drawn to her. Shelly owns a business that does technical writing training. She started she was a teacher at a really young age when she was studying in the states, an English teacher with a Masters in Creative writing also. We were also given helpful advice on finding our niche out in the world. Combining both our skills, values and goals into one we were able to know ourselves for what we can do in order to find our niche. It was inspiring to hear her poem that she read aloud called Shed, it was about all the things from being a mother to living her dreams. One of my goals in life to also find my place in the world, like Shelly, I want to own my own business whichis my bookstore as well as do what i love most; Writing !! At the end of the amazing day she each gave us her email to contact her for advice on her talk today and also a handout that separates our strengths and weakness to find what our skills and values are. <3

Catherine Chidgey, Writer.

Catherine Chidgey is one of the many brilliant lectures for our creatives course. She talked about her now four books, the most recent one being about a German boy and girl stuck in a cinema during WWII, they talk about their lives and delve into their memories. It was great to get advice and her Catherine's story on how she first published her book and her experiences overseas writing like the states and Germany, where she is fluent in the language. She says that she is always inspired by student and believes in two way learning. It was awesome to hear from a role model like Catherine because she is both laid back and inspirational, I enjoyed this session with her very much :)

Tusiata Avia, Poet.

Tusiata Avia was our guest visitor for the 22^nd of last month, Robert was not present because he was in Mumbai, for the International Literary Festival. She is a poet and performer and has been on the since since the early 2000's. She read out aloud few of her poems from her book, “Wild Dogs Under My Skirt.” where I felt a real connection to being a young Samoan woman. It was the voice of home and I was able to relate to some of the pieces. We asked her questions about she first gotten her book of poems published and the process of going through it all with her publisher and so forth. Tusiata told us about not giving up when it came to dreams like these, she would tell us about how she performed poetry overseas and how even though the crowd did not speak or understand English they were still able to connect to it. The universal language was poetry. It felt great to get advice from Tusiata who has travelled the world and experienced it all at the same time, living and breathing her work across the world. 

Manini:

I've decided to put forth my favourite poem that I did earlier this year called “I like kissing this and that of you.” It's one of my only poems where I've put so much effort into it, it has come to the point where I have several drafts for it. I was able to go over with Alison and Colleen on that day, it had already been edited but that day was the last day for submissions and it had to be polished. There was a few typos and grammar mistakes here and there and at the end it was done. I was proud with the way it came out and I feel proud of myself in the sense that I have now gained the confidence to share my work and not to always be so hard on myself when I'm writing. It was hectic that day, everyone were rushing around to get their submissions in and we also edited each others which was pretty cool, because we were there throughout the process of both writing it and editing it too.

Collaboration Zine

I got put into a group with my fellow classmates, Nash and Zac, we had to produce a publication in a format, print or electronic. We decided that we wanted to make a Zine, we swapped ideas on what we wanted to put forth. I already had my idea with wanting to hand in a a prose piece I did in Tusiata's class earlier this year. My group was a chill laid back bunch and jotting down ideas with them were pretty easy. We came up with the kind of materials we were going to print our zine's on and what the title was. In my opinion we had great ideas and I was looking forward to producing a great piece of Zine.

Manini: Day One.

This was going to be my first time submitting something to a publication even though it was in house. For me this was great practise because in the future I plan to submit quite often. I remember at the beginning of the year I was afraid of showing my work, always nervous and shy, I always wanted to be like the other writers in class. They'd always put up work and feel confident in it enough to workshop, I, on the other hand didn't feel to good about it. But as the weeks went by and I found a new group of friends, I started to share my work among them soon after I was work shopping like everyone else. I have to pick a piece to submit to our in house journal, Manini. I was stuck between two pieces, my sonnet “I like kissing this and that of you.” or my short fiction, YA urban fantasy story named “Of blood & bones.” So my job is to figure out which one I prefer to be shown as my first piece of work. :D

Jenna Todd, Manager at Time Out Bookstore, Mt Eden

I have always been a fan of independent bookstores, in the sense that they each had personalities either in place of the owner or because of the books it carries. It was great to have Jenna Todd from the Time Out store come in and tell us about the process of how a book gets published and into their stores. Its information I listened well to because my big dream after getting published was to open up an independent book/cafe store that had open mic's and poetry nights every week. It may seem like a big dream but i don't believe in dreaming realistically. Jenna prepared an informative power point about how she runs the store and the important points like how publishers and bookstores must have a great relationship in order for books to be recognized on their shelves. Jenna also told us about taking the risk of buying books from a publisher in hopes that it would sell in their store. Just in case it didn't and they would need to find a way to sell them. I enjoyed her presentation and all the advice and information she was giving away because owning and running an independent bookstore. <3

Nalini Singh

A role model to all writers of both paranormal and romance, Nalini Singh is one of the top writers of New Zealand. New York times bestseller came to visit us in hopes of inspiring us as well as give great advice. I am a big fan of her books and having her in class was amazing. Robert told us before hand that Nalini was a professional woman who knew the business world of writing like the back of her own hand. I have read a few books from each of her series and was just so amazed by all the hard work that she went through to get to where she is now. Out of all of them I found the Psy-Changeling series quite fascinating. It was such an honor to pick at the brains of a great paranormal romance writer. She came prepared with a few answered questions in her little notebook, giving us advice on how the market is both internationally and locally. We asked if the business side of things ever affect your writing, she simply answered with a "no." She said that if writing is your passion then the business side would come to those who are willing to take their stories internationally. She talked to us about how she first got published and how she found her first agent to represent her for publishing companies, giving us advice on her to get our work and names out there by entering writing competitions and so on. That is how getting to know the right people will help us get further, to great a solid foundation for our writing careers. I enjoyed having her talk to us, I look up to her in every way, she has even encouraged me to join the Romance Writers association next year to gain more knowledge and to also get to know other writers of the similar genre. I felt so inspired that I'm now starting a new YA novel :D 

Karen Craig: Auckland Libraries Goddess

The moment that Karen Craig first spoke it felt as if we were catching up with an old friend. She welcomed you with great presence and made you feel as if we all went way back. I however being the unprepared person as always having no questions prepared in all honesty, (a writers flaw) knew then and there I did not need to have any, she simply answered my non-existing questions. She gave you what you needed to know but if others were to ask her something she would respond with an answer that you would remember long enough to write down when you got home. And since I did not have anything prepared, I jolted down as fast as I could what she was talking about. The subject that caught me out of all was the banned books collection. I, myself a person that likes to be free with her words would also like for all people's work to be exposed. Not to cause harm but to simply inform those who do not know anything about the topic or who may have a connection to the story. She referred to many books that were banned through the Office of Film and Literature Classification. For example "Into The River", by Ted Dawe was banned for its content. As an avid reader I'm against the idea of banning books. It is a freedom of speech and If we were to censor everything that we found offence then there wouldn't be much awareness to the younger readers. I had never met someone so passionate about the library till Karen, it was truly inspirational to have her to speak with us that day.