Issue #19, July 31st 2026
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Kia ora friends, A snippetIn lieu of snippets from me this issue, I want to send you instead to some of my favourite poetry from Aotearoa's own Tarot Journal. I read a poem a day when at my work desk. Here are four works which have really moved me enough that I needed to share them: https://tarotpoetry.nz/yael-thomas-cameron/beeswax/ https://tarotpoetry.nz/megan-clayton/across-the-reserve/ https://tarotpoetry.nz/jessica-arcus/tiny-circles/ https://tarotpoetry.nz/amelia-kirkness/danny/ The actual writing this month
Old MacDonald's Farm wrap upOn the 4th of July, my cast and crew moved into the PumpHouse Theatre after a two-month rehearsal season. We presented to test audiences on the 5th, and then opened to the public on the 7th. The show closed on the 12th. Critically, the play went really well. Children and adults alike were delighted by the humour and music. I was especially gratified to hear our beautiful costumes get gasps and giggles of awe and amusement. If you want to know more, I have updated the Lore Drop over here: https://hiriadunning.com/2026/05/29/lore-drop-9-old-macdonalds-farm/. Originally posted in May and only touching on the initial parts of rehearsal season, it's now got all the details and many photos of our performance season. A further word on theatreSo um... I'm kinda done? Let me explain. I don't want to produce or direct this scale of productions anymore. At least not now, while I have two small children, and a girlfriend who lives across town, and an intellectually demanding full-time job, and so many other good things happening at the same time. It is just too much stress. I will still write plays, and I might occassionally delve into a smaller-scale project with a lot of support, but I don't see myself mounting anything as ambitious as Old Mac again any time soon. I was going around telling people that I clearly had lost my 'love of the game' when it came to theatre. But my therapist reframed this for me in such a helpful way: it's actually that I am no longer so motivated by external validation. When I was in my teens and twenties, theatre gave me such a rush, whether I was on stage or behind it in one role or another. Like Lady Gaga, I lived for the applause. But now in my thirties, it's just another job to me. And when I already have so many 'jobs' in my life, even when the going is good and fun, all the busyness of theatre just feels like stress to my body. Instead of external validation, these days I'm really internally motivated by my prose work. Even when I might be blocked on a scene, when I finally resolve that block, it's the most satisfying thing, like solving a 1000-piece puzzle. But with my mind! While it's important to stay accountable and have deadlines to push the work along at times, it's also far more possible when working alone to pull back to what is right for me in the moment. So yeah. Not goodbye forever, maybe? I've been through my mourning process. Now I'm just feeling released, and keen to go on with the work that speaks to me most. New release by a friend: The Stars Will Be Our OceanMy friend Lizzie Blackwood has just released her gorgeous debut novel. I can't sing its praises enough. If you like the vibe of Star Trek and Mass Effect and you also like a dash of dystopia and romance, check it out. https://lizzieblackwood.carrd.co/ What's new on the blog?I've got a post that responds to another blog post. Cameron Sidhe takes MFAs (aka. MCWs) to task in her post (https://eirenicverses.com/2026/07/22/do-you-really-need-that-mfa/), and I respond with my own experience of learning the craft inspired by what she said, here: https://hiriadunning.com/2026/07/28/reflecting-on-how-i-got-here/ What's coming next month?So folks, I'm thinking, unless something huge happens next month, I'm going to take a little break from this newsletter. Maybe for a month or two. Right now I'm very quietly working on long-term projects and I don't anticipate there being any big news items for a while. But as soon as something important comes along, I'll be sure to let you know. So next one (bi-monthly? quarterly?) will be a bumper issue covering a longer period of time. Until then, Arohanui, Claire Hiria READ MORE |
Hiria Dunning
Kia ora friends, I'm back, and not regretting the break. Lots to catch you up on in this issue! Snippet The article I wrote for the Playmarket Annual, The New Tech Merry-Go-Round, is now up and available to read HERE, starting on page 30 of the PDF. Here's a snippet from it: But we do have a unique position out of most, if not all, art forms. This is theatre, darling. The money was never good. The effort it takes to make theatre is too great to waste on dreck. It’s hard enough to get...
Kia ora team, How was your June? Mine has gone by in a crazy daze. Here's some of the reasons why... A snippet I am opposed to the Legislation (Definition of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill. Defining what a woman is does nothing further to protect the people who would be under the unnuanced blanket term 'woman' according to this bill; in fact, it will only put them at further risk of harm, and it introduces further complications for groups of people who are already marginalized by society. It...
Kia ora, I thought I knew what busy was last month. I had no idea T_T A Snippet "Tell me, which of these forms is most pleasing to your eye?" What follows has me unable to look away from her, after so long avoiding doing so. She takes a scarf of grey silk, and runs it past her face. When it comes away, she is a younger woman with silvery tresses and large red lips. She does it again, and when it passes she has the dark eyes of a woman from far away, with mystery and knowledge in their depths....