Join Sofia Roger Williams and Beth Torrance-Hetherington for kōrero with artists and creative types from the wide art world of Tāmaki Makaurau and beyond!
Photosynthesisers: Women and lens is an exhibition currently showing at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, curated by James Gatt.
The exhibition features photographs and videos by 41 women artists and collectives from Aotearoa and Australia, including fa`afafine, queer, and trans women, and those with ancestral ties to Aboriginal, Māori and diasporic communities.
Produced between the 1960s and 2024 by four generations of artists, exhibited works collectively offer cross-cultural and intergenerational perspectives on the social, political and cultural conditions that informed, prompted or necessitated their capture.
Beth caught up with James about Photosynthesisers.
Star Gazers is a new book by award-winning writer Duncan Sarkies, published by Te Herenga Waka University Press in February. It’s a book about political unrest, with alpacas at its heart.
Beth caught up with Duncan about Star Gazers, writing about alpacas, the political state of the world and berserk male syndrome.
Written by ‘Hua Parakore farmers, activists, Indigenous researchers and Indigenous food sovereignty leaders Jessica Hutchings and Jo Smith, Pātaka Kai encourages a return to Indigenous values and practices to achieve kai sovereignty and wellbeing for Mother Earth and her people’.
The book calls attention to the need for Indigenous perspectives and practices that offer pathways to ecological, cultural and socio-economic sustainability in the face of a biodiversity crisis, and teaches of a greater connection to food in our everyday lives.
Beth had a kōrero with Jessica Hutchings about Pātaka Kai: Kai Sovereignty.
In a career spanning three decades, Tony Fomison was a notable New Zealand painter, whose works were often dark, and who shed light on the human condition and reimagined life in Aotearoa.
Tony Fomison: Life of the Artist is a new biography written by Mark Forman, published by Auckland University Press. In this biography - the first full one of its kind to be published - Forman draws on archival material and interviews with over 150 people, including Fomison’s family and close friends, leading contemporary artists, political activists, and art professionals. However, notably, due to the varying recollections of those who knew the artist, Forman had to leave reproductions of Fomison's unique paintings out of the book.
Sofia spoke to Forman about what made him embark on this research, Fomison himself, and navigating representation of him.
Sofia had a kōrero with author and biographer Mark Forman about Tony Fomison: Life of the Artist, available now at independent bookstores near you.
Beth had a kōrero with activist and Indigenous food sovereignty leader Jessica Hutchings about Pātaka Kai: Kai Sovereignty, a new book out now via Massey University Press.
Sofia also spoke with host Graeme Douglas about The Good Oil - a podcast dedicated to long form conversations with Aotearoa painters about their lives and practices.
And for Stage Direction this week, playwright and performer John Davies joined us in-studio to speak about Te Tupua: The Goblin, showing tonight at Te Pou Theatre.
The Good Oil is an arts podcast dedicated to long form conversations with Aotearoa painters about their lives and practices.
Hosted by Graeme Douglas, the podcast has thus far interviewed the likes of most recently Darryn George, as well as other senior established artists such as Dame Robin White and Dick Frizzell, but also younger, more emerging artists such as Claudia Kogachi and Hannah Ireland.
With Season Three now launched, Sofia spoke with Graeme about what motivated him to start the podcast, his own relationship to art, and his process.
Beth had a kōrero with Tāmaki Makaurau-based poet Amy Marguerite about her debut poetry collection, over under fed, out now via Auckland University Press.
She also spoke with Pōneke-based poet Gregory Kan about his new poetry collection, Clay Eaters, out now via Auckland University Press, also.
Sofia had a kōrero with Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Wikimedian in Residence, Anjuli Selvadurai, about the Wiki 101 Edit-a-thon tomorrow.
And Beth also had a kōrero with the Artistic Director of the Auckland Writers Festival for 2025, Lyndsey Fineran, about the programme this year.
And for Stage Direction this week, Ngahiriwa Rauhina joined Alice Canton in the studio to speak about ration the Queens veges currently on at Te Pou Theatre.
The lineup has been announced for the Auckland Writers Festival, which will welcome over 220 writers this year. Among them are writers Trent Dalton (Australia), Mariana Enriquez (Argentina), Yael van der Wouden (the Netherlands), Alan Hollinghurst (UK) and Jessica Townsend (Australia).
The festival will take place from the 13th to the 18th of May, with Streetside: Britomart – AWF’s annual fringe festival – taking place a week earlier, on Friday 9th of May.
Beth spoke with the Artistic Director for the festival, Lyndsey Fineran, about the lineup and the themes of Auckland Writers Festival this year, as well as highlights from the programme.
Clay Eaters is the latest poetry collection by Gregory Kan, out now via Auckland University Press.
Clay Eaters traverses a network of fault lines diverging and converging at unexpected angles: a mysterious jungle island, military reconnaissance training, the spirits in the trees and abandoned temples, old family homes, the echoes across rooms, the dining table set for the archetypal feast. The author asks what it means to write the self, and what it is the living must carry.
Beth caught up with Greg about Clay Eaters and the fragmentary nature of the collection. He also performed a couple of poems.
over under fed is the debut poetry collection by Amy Marguerite, out now via Auckland University Press.
In over under fed, Amy explores the peculiar loveliness and specific loneliness of the human condition. She writes from experiences with anorexia nervosa, limerence and a particularly tumultuous situationship. Her poems are confessional and seek to reconcile chaos and recovery.
Amy completed Te Kohinga Auaha, a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters in Pōneke Wellington in 2022.
Beth caught up with Amy about over under fed and her creative process, and she performed a poem.
Florence Hartigan and Shoshana McCallum chat to Alice Canton about their shows, Me, My Mother and Suzy Cato and Merely Beloved! on at the Herald Theatre from 8-10 May.
Mayen Mehta and Ryan O'Kane from Auckland Theatre Company joined Sofia in the studio to chat about Murder on the Orient Express, on at ASB Waterfront Theatre 22 April - 10 May.
John Davies joined Sofia and Beth in studio to chat about Te Tupua - The Goblin, a solo play written and performed by Davies himself. Tickets for tonight's show at Te Pou Theatre here.
Ahi Karunaharan joined Beth and Sofia in the studio to talk about a mixtape for maladies, the final chapter of Karunaharan's trilogy. The play tells the story of 17 nostalgic pop tracks which chart the deeply moving journey of Sangeetha and her family in 1950s Sri Lanka. a mixtape for maladies is on at ASB Waterfront Theatre from the 4th March. You can get your tickets here.
Alice Canton spoke to artistic director of Auckland Arts Festival, Bernie Haldane, about the programme this year. The festival is running from 6-23 March. More info here!
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