Issue #2: February 2025
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Kia ora friends, Despite it being short on days, this month was busybusybusy. Mostly with personal life things, with life contorting me in a few unexpected directions. Long story short, for family reasons, I’ve had to extend my maternity leave for another three months. Thankfully, my day job has been kind to me, being flexible about some of the wrenches that have been thrown in the works. It’s all going to come right in the end. I’ll keep telling myself this - I’m a glass-half-full kind of person. The actual writing:
In Social Land:I have written this section like… three times? And I delete it every time, unhappy with it. At the same time, I think that maybe my honesty might help others who feel like me. So I’ll keep it short. I’m peeling back a bit from socials because it’s becoming a headache. I feel a bit bad about this because like… it’s just social media, what’s the big deal? I keep telling myself to just post and be done with it. But when seeing the little unread notifications icon is triggering my anxiety, I know it’s time to take a break. Same with pitch events. I did three this month, and while I got some lovely feedback from people following the tags, it did leave me feeling like… I would really rather be doing the writing itself, rather than shouting out to the world for likes and reposts. I dunno. It’s a balance. I haven’t struck the right one yet. Maybe one day I’ll figure it out. But looking after my mental health takes precendence. In Real Life:I took part in the Queer Storytelling Panel on February 22nd at Onehunga Library. It was hosted by Auckland Libraries podcast host Alison Fitzpatrick, and I was up there with fellow authors Jade du Preez (https://www.instagram.com/jade.f.dupreez/) and Hayley Price (https://www.hayleyprice.net/). For 90 minutes (though it did not at all feel that long while I was up there!) we shared yarns and laughs with a lovely audience. I wish I could remember more of what was said: it was one of those moments in time where a combination of nerves and joy made my memory short-circuit. It was something of a delicate atmosphere at first, because one of the events in Auckland Pride was attacked earlier this month. We were fairly certain, as our event was aimed at adults, that we would not be targeted. The one which was attacked was a drag storytime. It’s awful that this is happening, and it is something we have to be more wary of currently with trends in world politics. We feel the ripples even down here in this isolated corner of the world. But we had security present, and no protestors showed up, so a peaceful good time was had. I remain certain that the future will be more open and accepting. But I won't sit back and wait for that; I’m encouraged to fight for that future to come to fruition, using my words. What’s coming next month:
I hope you have a wonderful, restful, kind and peaceful month! (mostly those adjectives cos I’m wishing this on myself too!!) Arohanui, Claire Hiria |
Hiria Dunning
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....
Kia ora folks, It's been a busy month, and it's only going to get busier for me over the next two and a half months. Read on to find out why... The actual writing this month I made the final revisions to the final draft of my play Old MacDonald's Farm, just in time for the auditions ... tonight! I submitted nine poems to two different journals and a competition. One of my poems has already been accepted! I got my first short story rejection from NZ publication Landfall, which now means I can...