Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival 2014: The Children's Room Storytime Train to Port Chalmers

The original article from the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival 2014 can be found here: 

https://booksellersnz.wordpress.com/2014/05/11/the-childrens-room-storytime-train-to-port-chalmers/ 

After a 5am start ('can we go on the train yet?') and a muttered It’s-not-light-yet-go-back-to-sleep, Esme and I moved around the house with a quiet determination NOT to miss the Children’s Room Story-time Train to Port Chalmers this morning. As we arrived at one-of-the-most-photographed-railway-stations-in-the-world (who measures that, and how? But yes, it is gorgeous), passengers were treated to trainside performances of song and dance from Kat Anna Fiddle and furry costumed characters. As both the crowd and anticipation grew, this risky but rewarding event got under way with a call of ‘all aboard!’ and a collective squeal from the under 7’s. Children over this age smiled lots. As did parents, it must be noted. As one myself, it was just so nice to have an event for younger folk – an acknowledgement that writers and readers are of all ages, not just us older bookish types.



 Why risky? Well, an event that has approximately 100 excited children on a train (and then in a small community library) can be described as many things, and risky is certainly one of them. Whilst wonderfully contained on the train, walking from where the train stopped to the library entailed rigorous traffic control and constant reminders to the children that, yes, cars do travel on the road at Port Chalmers. It was great that organisers had put these safety measures in place.

Additionally, any attempt to organise post-train adrenalized children in a small space could easily be described as herding cats, and those in charge really rose to the challenge, with the youngest children downstairs and the older upstairs, and a swap halfway through the time to share the wonderful authors with all ages. Diana Noonan and Robyn Belton were pitch perfect for the littlies, and Kyle Mewburn’s maniacal manner created a wonderfully controlled chaos in his young audience. Mewburn has a glint in his eye and a way with words.


And rewarding? Definitely. Whatever your age, trains are cool. Books are cool. So trains and books together? Ultra cool. And Esme was pretty impressed with the snack pack and gift from the amazing people at UBS and the end of the experience. Thanks Dunedin Writers and Readers festival for including all ages in this celebration of the written word. It’s just so cool to spread that love of words.

Event reviewed by Lara Liesbeth on behalf of Booksellers NZ

Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival 2015: Dalloway

The Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival was on in May; I wrote some reviews on events.  I'm putting these up here now. If you would like to read the original articles, you can access this one at: 

https://booksellersnz.wordpress.com/2015/05/09/dunedin-writers-festival-dalloway-friday-8-may/ 


‘How can one person remember all those lines?’ asked the stranger sitting next to me after the show Dalloway, at the Dunedin Readers and Writers Festival. Rebecca Vaughan, moving from character to character in Virginia Woolf’s famous story of Clarissa Dalloway and post-WW1 London, has utterly mastered and embodied each distinct personality on the stage. She is so immersed in the storytelling that, in fact, the question becomes more: how would she not know what was to be said next? She is working with genius, though; both in Woolf and Elton Townend Jones, the writer and director who has built a physical world from the pages of one of the most beloved of Woolf’s works – Mrs Dalloway.
 
The show begins with a version of the famous opening line of the book – ‘Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself’, but immediately moves to give breath and life to Vaughan’s characterisation of Clarissa with personal pronouns replacing that third person narrative style found in novels. It is satisfying that this fluctuates throughout and is as dynamic as the actor herself; the action moves from character to narrator to character to character – nearly all of Woolf’s imagined figures are given life on stage. Septimus Smith’s battle with post-traumatic stress syndrome, or ‘shell shock’ is just heartbreaking. Vaughan is so skilled in her craft that one forgets it is her giving life to each nuanced figure, both female and male. From Smith’s Italian wife to old suitor Peter Walsh; Vaughan quite simply gives each character the gift of life.

The ‘mermaid’s dress’ of green was immaculately cut and complemented the action. Ingenious pockets allowed Vaughan to become the masculine – Walsh in particular, as he paced the park and mused on Clarissa’s positive attributes.

If you are in Dunedin this weekend or Auckland at the upcoming 2015 Auckland Writers Festival, then this is a gem worth seeing. The words are gorgeous and the acting is incredible.
Dalloway
Fortune Theatre
8 May 2015

Reviewed by Lara Liesbeth

Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival 2015: An ancient guide to Modern Life, with Natalie Haynes

The Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival was on in May; I wrote some reviews on events.  I'm putting these up here now. If you would like to read the original articles, you can access this one at: 

https://booksellersnz.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/dunedin-writers-and-readers-festival-natalie-haynes/ 

Natalie Haynes is funny. Like, she’s-a-comedian funny. Which is not really surprising, considering that was her job for 12 years or so.  Apparently she retired in 2009 to spend more time writing, which is, of course, excellent for the Dunedin Readers and Writers Festival. What Haynes brought to the festival was priceless: an icing on top of a proverbial cake; an extra limb to an already heavily-weighted tree. She not only managed to share – nay, revel in sharing – her written work, but did so in the format of a stand-up comedy show.  Brilliant.
 

From the first joke cracked about pacing being habitual and also imperative for preventing the horizontal lecture that would otherwise eventuate thanks to jetlag, to the improvised banter around stage-creak ( with apologies for staying away from one side of the audience), Haynes held the floor like a pro. Winning the audience over quickly and kindly with comparisons of our fair Dunedin city to LA (‘bring all your coats and jackets, they said!’ – the weather has been unseasonably generous this festival), Haynes proceeded to form her talk around topics chosen by the audience.

Women, politics, religion and philosophy were chosen from the eight or nine offered up, but even more impressively, Haynes went one step further by deciding to ‘mix it up’. She talked about ‘Women and Politics’, and ‘Religion and Philosophy’ as two distinct categories.  And she so knows her stuff.  From Medea and Eastenders to Lysistrata in Kenya, Haynes seamlessly articulated ways in which the classical world is still highly relevant to today’s society. Surely this woman drinks coffee; her mind and mouth were moving at a furious pace. Or maybe Haynes is just blessed with the so-called gift of the gab. Either way, her energy is infectious.

Haynes finished her show by reading the first few pages from her recent novel The Amber Fury.  It would have been great to have another hour with her addressing this text, as what she shared was both evocative and provocative.  Many in the audience rushed for the queue to buy the book, and the line was long for signings after the show. It’s great to see the festival branching out like this (with theatre, too, in Dalloway), although I guess they always have, with events such as the Story Train and Poetry in the Pub already established during the inaugural festival. Haynes’ show felt like a hidden gem amongst gems, and I feel lucky to have been part of an intimate audience who basked in the sunny company of a consummate professional.

Reviewed by Lara Liesbeth

Book review: The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney

https://booksellersnz.wordpress.com/2015/09/02/book-review-the-glorious-heresies-by-lisa-mcinerney/

It starts with a murder, but that murder is kind of weird.  A guy dies - he’s been hit over the head with religion (literally; it’s an icon).  The killer?  Not your run-of-the-mill criminal, but Maureen - mother of Jimmy, a crime lord in the town of Cork where this gritty story is set.  Maureen is reluctantly put up in a building of Jimmy’s when she needs a place to stay; the victim is a previous ‘tenant’ returned. Thus fate is cast.

Running alongside this is the story of Tony (one of Jimmy’s henchmen) and his son Ryan, who seems to be resisting following in his father’s footsteps.  Initially, anyway.  Ryan is in love with Karine, and the relationship is a sweet one.  Part of McInerney’s skill as a writer has to be how she creates a sense of horror in the reader as we watch Jimmy - prodigal, talented son - succumb to drug dealing and crime.  ‘His lot’, some might argue.  In this, the case for ‘nurture’ rather than ‘nature’ seems depressingly accurate.

Georgie the prostitute is the final protagonist - poor Georgie who doesn’t have much luck in life, and yet makes the most of what she’s got - she is the murder victim’s girlfriend. These narratives work side-by-side until, as with great stories, they come together.

McInerney uses local dialect in her text, which means the reader really feels part of place.  Whether you’ve been to Ireland or not, the words and accents as rendered here are as familiar as St Patrick’s Day.  If that makes it sound lightweight, it’s not.  The characters are well-written, and I found myself particularly taken with Ryan’s story - he who starts out as a boy and ends up a hardened man.  It felt sad but inevitable, what with him being the son of Tony (poor Tony) who tries to leave crime, but can’t.  His relationship with girlfriend Karine seemed so full of hope at the start and it’s testament to McInerney’s writing that one wishes it would stay that way.

Bleak, yes, but also funny, yes.  It’s been described as a meditation on sex and family in ‘the arse end of Ireland’, which also happens to be the name of McInerney’s popular Irish blog. There’s a bit of a ‘Tarantino’ feel to parts of the book - especially the murder at the start and the unusual circumstances that surround it.  If you, like me, enjoy vicarious living, this might be the book for you. I know one thing - I certainly wouldn’t want to live any of these lives for real!

Lara Liesbeth

Book review: The Bright Side of my Condition by Charlotte Randall

The Bright Side of my Condition was a finalist in the Fiction category of the 2014 New Zealand Post Book Awards.

https://booksellersnz.wordpress.com/2014/08/06/book-reviewbook-review-the-bright-side-of-my-condition-by-charlotte-randall/ 

“Maybe next time I get it right.  Forget special.  Next time I come back as a whalefish breathing steady in the lovely deeps.”  So speaks Bloodworth, convict-narrator of Charlotte Randall’s The Bright Side of my Condition.  And Randall indeed seems to be grappling with just that - what is the point of our brief human lives?  When we eventually shuffle off this mortal coil, should we be remembered for, or remember ourselves as ‘special’, or should our successes instead be measured by the twin metric of beauty and enjoyment?  As Bloodworth muses, the penguins know:

... their useless stumpy wings that don’t fly, their duck feet that don’t walk, their bodies jes a starchy morning suit, but look how they contrive to free their selfs from their limits and enjoy their lives.

Look how they grin, he says.  

Randall writes her first person narrative as the man of the time would speak.  The opening sections bloom with ‘I dint say a word’ and ‘I’m Bloodworth.  It aint a name I ever heared of before it were thrust upon me.’  This jars, to begin with.  But as the story progresses, it quickly becomes a an obviously strong narrative voice.  Bloodworth is hard to like, but he must have grown on me - the surreal change of form at the end of the book left me caring for his fate, and I was surprised by this.  He is not really a likeable character, but is richly imagined.  More importantly, his experience is an allegorical tale that explores issues of existentialism, freedom and choice. “And yer have to ask,” says Bloodworth, “... what even were I brung here for?  Jes to walk alone across these cliffs?”

In three parts, the novel addresses ‘The Early Years’, ‘The Middle Years’, and ‘Eternity’ of the experiences of four convicts who escaped from Norfolk Island onto a sealing ship.  The ship did not have enough food to feed the crew and the convicts, and so they were discharged onto one of The Snares, a group of subantarctic islands 200 kilometres from the South Island of New Zealand.  The collective area of these islands equate to 3.5 kilometres squared.  If it sounds foreboding and harsh, it is.  The experiences of the four men are of the environment, each other and the self, for that is all there really is.  Seals are murdered for their skins, and these skins hid away and counted as a measure of time passing.  Interactions between Bloodworth, Gargantua, Toper and Slangam are brutal and bitchy.  Imagine being stuck on an inhospitable island with three other law-breakers; a sack of potatoes, rice and rum the only provisions; the promise of rescue at least a year away.  There is little to hope for except rescue.  At least in a prison, your sentence, you would presume, would end.  Here, on the island, the reader already knows that rescue is actually a decade away. And then what?

Gargantua believes he will be delivered as a hero to the literary circles of England, and that the story he has to tell of the experience will define him as ‘special’.  Toper seems a bit stupid - his religion and natural inclination to follow rather than lead make him a prime candidate for manipulation.  Slangam sees himself as boss, and so it is.  Bloodworth eventually sours of interaction and heads out alone to a cave, rejecting company for penguin and albatross watching, and internal philosophising.  ‘The Early Years’ and ‘The Middle Years’ follow these internal and external journeys.

It is in ‘Eternity’ that things dramatically change.  We still have our narrator, but he has been thrown off a cliff and is slowly falling to his death. This is the smallest section of the book - 30 pages - but the most interesting as far as form goes.  Randall has said that the idea of someone slowly falling to death is what prompted her writing The Bright Side of my Condition, and that this fitted well with the true historical story of the four Norfolk Island convicts. It is a surprising turn to what is, up to that point, a comfortable and fairly straightforward narrative.  Bloodworth’s ‘eternal death’ seems to, perversely, happen quickly.  He narrates the arrival of Captain Coffin and the rescue of the remaining three men.  Things end as they start - the bickering and bitching continues, with all three trying to convince Coffin of the necessity of Bloodworth’s death.

And what of Bloodworth?  As he falls and dies, he continues to grapple with the exquisite pain of living.  At one point he asks: “But were there more of a plan for me? … Were I made special for a special life?”  Randall’s response comes through words that swell from Bloodworth’s pre-convict life: “Living do the making.”  We are as we choose to live, so choose to live wisely.

Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival 2015: H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald with Damien Barr

The Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival was on in May; I wrote some reviews on events.  I'm putting these up here now. If you would like to read the original articles, you can access this one at: 

https://booksellersnz.wordpress.com/2015/05/09/dunedin-writers-and-readers-festival-h-is-for-hawk-helen-mcdonald-with-damien-barr/

Damien Barr has the most delightful Scottish accent, and so it was rather pleasant listening to him ask questions of Helen Macdonald  (right) , who recently won the Costa Prize for her memoir on falconry and grief, H is for Hawk. Goshawks and grief – an unusual combination, perhaps, but one which, when explained by Macdonald, made perfect sense. Her belief is that, whilst turning to nature can be healing, it is also a reflection of ourselves – we project needs, wants, morals, and, in Macdonald’s case, grief, out into the wild. That’s a lot of pressure on nature. But not really, because that, in and of itself, insinuates that nature can be pressured.

Macdonald talked about the distance needed to write the book after her father’s death. She noted that some writers can write whilst immersed in grief, but for her, the distance was not only necessary but also essential and fundamental. It’s hard to imagine a wild-haired Macdonald hiding behind couches to avoid human contact, feeling as if she were as wild a thing as a goshawk. Hard because Macdonald appears so utterly human – warm, friendly and funny – but also because imagining a fellow human suffering such grief is a hard thing.

Toitu is a fitting venue for an event like this. The open spaces above and the floor-to-ceiling glass windows offer warmth and quiet that complement reflection – they are the perfect surroundings for contemplating the many ways in which we find our way back to humanity when it feels like we might be lost in the dark.

Reviewed by Lara Liesbeth

Presentation on MLE to staff 12 October 2015

My notes:

Slide 2: 
Provocation!  I was running yesterday and listening to this podcast and thought this sat pretty well with what I’m presenting to you today. What do you think?

Slide 3:

These are some photos I took of the school.  It was completed in 2013.  It’s a PPP (public private partnership) which means that the company that built it is responsible for maintenance and ensuring it does what they said it will do.  Maurie Abraham, principal of the Secondary School, therefore spends his time on aspects of teaching and learning rather than capital concerns. Hobsonville Point Primary School was built at the same time and is 100 metres down the road.  The two schools work together and have one Board of Trustees.  More information at: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Hobsonville%20School%20Public%20Private%20Partnership%20Q%20and%20A.pdf

Slide 4:

This is the main entrance and cafe. Pretty cool!

Slide 7: 
The physical space is seductive, I have to admit. It’s very new and shiny.  But the message is very clear: it’s not about the new space (although it’s lovely).

Slide 8: 
The discussion is more around the way we view student agency.  Should we have bells? Why? Should we stay in classrooms (cells) all day? Why? Why only an hour per ‘learning activity’ (or whatever you want to call it).

Slide 10: 
Maurie Abraham talked a lot about the ‘silo’ing of subjects.  At HPSS, teachers are teamed up across curriculum areas and team teach.  Steve Mouldey, a learning leader at HPSS, has blogged about this: https://stevemouldey.wordpress.com/2015/05/07/developing-coteaching-hpss-style/

Slide 11: 
Term 1 timetable 2014.

Slide 18:

I was really limited by the confines of the conference (BYOD) and couldn’t/didn’t ask many questions around these things.  What it did do for me was start a whole heap of questions about education which I explored and continue to explore in my own time online.

One thing about the learning hubs - as much time spent in these as a conventional class (nearly 4 hours a week by the latest timetable).  A commitment to 15 students MAXIMUM.

Slide 20:

So why do I care and why do I think we should all care?  The ERO Wellbeing Report focuses in on the huge pressures and expectations of the current system (some might say ‘of assessment’).

I think Maurie is right - we need to be worried about the recent ERO report on student wellbeing.  And that’s without even considering teacher wellbeing!

Slide 22: 
But Hobsonville is not the only one attempting change.  Here’s an example from another school.  Again, there’s that theme of it NOT being about the physical environment.

Slide 23:
Even more ‘modern’!  Or sensible? Or radical? Or wonderful? Or ridiculous?  There is power in the adjective! One thing is for sure: all questions should start with ‘why’. 

Burn the books! Burn the books! Burn the books and save our children! A (sort of) letter to Ted Dawe

Dear Ted,

Hi, Ted Dawe.  High school teacher of many, many years.  Writer.  Father.  Husband.  Human being. Oh Ted, we have a lot in common.  Obviously I'll never be a husband, but I've been teaching teenagers for 6 years now.  And I'm the parent of a nearly-16 year old.  I like to write a little bit (in fact, truth be known, I would like to write a lot more)and I'm pretty sure we are both human beings.  LOL!  

But seriously, Ted, being human is what it's all about,don't ya think?  Don't you think that teaching and writing is about helping others to try and find their humanity in some way? I think it's about story, identity, meaning and finding ways to communicate those things (so does the English curriculum, by the way.  But I'm sure you know that already, Ted.  You've been teaching teenagers English for a gazillion years). We all have a need to find who we are and to connect with others.  That's what makes us human.  

I'm pretty stoked that there are people like you out there, writing books, hanging out with teenagers, trying to teach them (for, let's be honest, Ted.  From one teacher to another, sometimes try is all we can do), tackling the big issues and refusing to mutter 'damn youth of today.  In my day ...' (continue the ellipsis; fill in the gap). Teenagers need mentors, and sometimes parents just don't cut it.  Teachers offer mentorship that may work for some.  And isn't that what we're trying to do, Ted? Save one starfish at a time, if we can? Throw it back in the ocean? Send a ripple out on the pond? Make a diffference?

I'm in awe of anyone who can get anything else done whilst maintaining a solid teaching practice.  My heroes are people like you, Ted.  Writers who teach.  Writers who get up at 4 am to get down their creative ideas before heading to school to teach. Art teachers who paint/photograph/print-make/etch etcetera before heading to school and attempting to direct the tsunami of 120 teenagers asking 'what are we doing today, sir/miss?' (even when it's been made clear for days on end - from one teacher to another, one must laugh). YOU are my hero.

I have a little story for you, Ted.  I'll call it an anecdote - it's not very long, and it's point not that strong, but it's relevant.  In my first year of teaching, 2010, I gained employment at a small, rural Area school on the east coast of the North Island.  About 45 kilometres north of Gisborne, Ted.  I was the sole English teacher.  God knows how I thought I was going to survive (a first year teacher? The only one at the school in my subject area? Let's just say, I'm a dreamer, and I hope I'm not the only one).  It was a sink-or-swim situation, with the last English teacher leaving with the words trailing in her wake: 'Good luck.  You'll need it.' LOL again, indeed, Ted!  It certainly was a cliched trial by fire, that's for sure. 85% of my students were Maori - mostly Ngati Porou.  Most were living below the poverty line.  And a lot didn't know that marijuana was illegal (especially the younger ones that I didn't teach - it was an Area school). Most were heading for the sad destiny of unemployment in a small place called home, and many girls were pregnant at 16.  'Sweet - set for life!' said one to me.  A sad thing, indeed.  Anyway, when I arrived at this school, I went through the resources (as you do.  For that question never goes away - 'what are we doing today, miss?').  Neatly stacked was 'No Fear Shakespeare', 'The Whalerider' and a perfect set of 'Thunder Road'.  I hadn't read it, but I did, and I liked it.  I wasn't enlightened enough to teach using the text in the year I was up there, but I did find out that it was a previous teacher (only there for one year) who had bought the set for the students.  If I could have my time again, Ted, I would be teaching that first up.  But retrospect is a fine thing, I suppose. That was the first time I heard of you. I didn't know you were a teacher yourself, and had possibly experienced what I was experiencing that year.  I didn't know that's probably why you wrote the book.

To risk cliche myself: fast forward to 2013.  Controversy strikes New Zealand! Some dude has the temerity to write about real experiences of real teenagers in a very real New Zealand! Shock! Horror! Save us! Now! That dude, of course, was you, Ted.  You wrote a very real story about a character who comes into contact with very many very real things.  Well, that's how I saw it (The East Coast was fresh in my mind). Not only did you get up at 5 am to write (that was the picture in my head) before heading to the chalkface, but you self-published to get the story out - so much did you believe in the story and the need for it to be told.  I am certain that money came directly out of your pocket to get this one onto the streets.  I am still in awe, and you are awesome.

And then, the award! Excellent! Bernard Beckett and co. rewarded your excellent writing with accolades and attention! That must've felt amazing, Ted, after bleeding and sweating out the words and paying the printers from your own pocket.  A moment of pure clarity and joy, I imagine: 'THIS has made it worth it'.  But possibly, probably not as much as knowing that teenagers would now be more likely to read the text, and some out there might just discover they are not alone. But, of course, you know that the moment of joy, the moment basking in the sun was to be short-lived. The fun police arrived.

The restriction, the debate, the ridiculous discussions around the 'filth', the 'C-word' and the hazardous effect of 'Into the River' on our young ones. I hadn't yet, so I promptly went out and bought a copy of your book - not only because my interest had been piqued, but also because I wanted to stand in solidarity with you.  I wanted to support you, financially, emotionally; granted, from a very far distance, but still.  You do what you can.  I bought the book.  I read it.  I liked it; I imagined students from that small town on the East Coast of the North Island, 45 kilometres north of Gisborne, possibly reading the book.  I wondered whose life would be changed with the reflection of their lives in your words.  I hoped.

Years passed, Ted.  I received an email from the head of NZATE (I'm sure you know, but that's the New Zealand Association of Teachers of English) asking for submissions from English teachers on 'Into the River'.  She asked, if we had read it, could we put down an educated opinion? The email from the Classifications office looked like this:

The Classification Office is seeking expert assistance from education groups and has contacted you regarding  the reconsideration of the classification of the book Into The River by Ted Dawe. If you know of anyone else who would be able to provide comment please pass on this email.  We would appreciate any comments by the 24^th July.

A brief background is provided below.

Into The River  tells the story of a young boy of Maori and Spanish ancestry, Te Arepa Santos. He is born and raised in a fictional East Coast village, but wins a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school in Auckland. The book centres around his experiences in his first two years at the school where he is academically successful, but as a result of a series of poor decisions ends up expelled.

In 2013, we the Classification Office classified this book as Unrestricted: Suitable for mature audiences 16 years of age and over. This meant anyone could read it but it was more suitable for a mature audience.

Part of the reasons for this decision were:  

The book deals with some stronger content.  There are sexual relationships between teenagers, encounters with possible child sexual exploitation, the use of illegal drugs and other criminal activities, violent assault, and a moderate level of highly offensive language.   These are well contextualised within an exciting fast moving narrative that has as its protagonist, a young teenage Maori boy from a rural community who is finding his way through the strange uncomfortable environment of a boys’ boarding school and unfamiliar social mores. 

There are many other novels widely available without restriction in New Zealand with similar sexual descriptions of an equivalent nature, many of them literary classics and coming of age novels, or popular fiction phenomena in their own right.  This would make a restriction on 'Into The River' arbitrary and unfair.  It would create a widespread inconsistency in conditions of access to books of this nature.  Concerns about children or young persons are adequately addressed by a classification indicating the book's suitability for mature audiences and a label that indicates sexual content.

Our decision was appealed by the group Family First. The Film and Literature Board of Review classified the book as R14 meaning it is restricted to persons 14 years and over. The Board stated:

There are scenes in the book that are powerful and disturbing, and in the opinion of the Board run a real risk of shocking and disturbing young readers.  Whilst those aged 14 and above are likely to have a level of maturity that enables them to deal with this, those below the age of 14 may not.

The book has now been submitted to us for a reconsideration of the R14 classification and we are seeking information from expert groups to help us.  

In particular we are interested in the following questions:

·         Are there books of similar nature/content used in the school curriculum? Or generally available?  

·         What age group would a book like this target?

·         Do you think this book would greatly shock and disturb readers under 14 years of age?

·         Would this book be used in school ? and for what age group?

Thank you for your time, any comments would be of great assistance to the Classification Office. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.     

It was signed by Nic McCully, Deputy Chief Censor at the Office of Film and Literature Classification.

I must say, Ted, I was pretty stoked to be able to finally have a say.  So I wrote the following in support of the removal of the restriction on 'Into the River'. You see, Ted, quite apart from the fact that I think your book is excellent writing and important in content, I don't believe in the censorship of books.  That's happened in the past, in other countries in particular, and it never ends well.  So I wrote this (now, when I look at it, I wish I'd written more, but retrospect, and all that):

Are there books of similar nature/content used in the school curriculum? Or generally available? 

Yes!  Perhaps not taught as part of the curriculum, but certainly available as personal reading material, or as part of a personal reading programme.  Other books that come to mind: Go Ask Alice by Anonymous; The Lazy Boys by Carl Shuker; Forever by Judy Blume ...

·         What age group would a book like this target?
13 up, but, of course, there are students who would enjoy it younger and older, depending on individual circumstance.

·         Do you think this book would greatly shock and disturb readers under 14 years of age?
No.  It is a well-written, thoughtful book and all 'challenging' material is contextualised.

·         Would this book be used in school ? and for what age group?

I would be disappointed if students were not allowed access to this as I think it depends on individual circumstances and maturity as to whether it was appreciated.  This should not be restricted. 

Sanity prevailed.  At least momentarily. This statement of freedom was issued in August:

 But, ah, Ted it was a short-lived sanity.  Sense did not prevail.  And here we are now, with your most excellent book banned - the first in 22 years, I hear. We should be ashamed of ourselves. This was the first I heard of the ban, thanks to our school librarian (going off on a tangent here for a moment - what about those librarians, Ted? Aren't they amazing? Those defenders of freedom and expression.  I love them.  My mum is one of them):

It seems to me that this statement is about a million miles from the last statement.  Ted, they went from this:

Having re-examined the book, and considered the submissions and other information received, the Classification Office still finds that a restricted classification would be unreasonable, and therefore inconsistent with the right to freedom of expression. While the book deals with some challenging material, including sex, drug use, and violence, it does not do so in a way that is likely to cause injury to the public good. Given the value of the book as a resource for young New Zealand audiences, particularly boys, a restriction of any sort makes it unnecessarily difficult for the intended audience to access the book. The unrestricted classification reflects the informed advice received from individuals and groups with significant experience and expertise in relevant matters. The Classification Office is confident that the suitability of the book for younger readers can best be determined by libraries, schools and parents.

... to the above.  In 20 DAYS.  

SLANZA (the School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa) used evocative words such as 'shocking' and 'draconian' when describing 'what effectively constitutes a total ban'. Bibliotecarios vivas largos! 
 

I hope, Ted, that you feel really supported by librarians. And teachers. And the general public. It's hard to know what to do as a citizen when such a thing happens.  Protest? Discuss? Write? I'm trying all three. I have talked to 14 years olds.  I've talked to 17 year olds.  I've held structured discussions about censorship in class, thanks to this event (a silver lining?) I've yet to find a student who agrees with the ban.  

I also hope that this embarrassing incident (embarrassing for New Zealand, that is) earns you lots of money.  I hope you sell heaps of books.  I hope a new precedent is set - not one where books with sex and the 'c' word and the 'f' word and drug use are banned, but one where teenagers are given the credit they deserve in the selection and consumption of literature. And, Ted, I think I'll leave the last word to a participant of your recent Reddit Q and A - succinct and to the point:

"I remember when I was in elementary school, we all wanted to read Harry Potter.  But these dense f***ers literally didn't allow us to get the books from the library. They were only for kids older than 12.  Talk about missing an opportunity.  You got little kids begging to read and you tell them no. F***ers."

Yours sincerely,

Lara Liesbeth




http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/355310/silent-protest-over-book-ban


http://www.dunedintv.co.nz/news/dozens-protest-temporary-ban-new-zealand-book

Why I love living in Dunedin

 

There might come a day when I want to move on from this lovely city, but at the moment, my heart belongs to Dunedin.  And it has for 13 years.  I'm from Christchurch, I've lived a year in Tolaga Bay/Uawa (north of Gisborne) and have travelled a wee bit (but not much and certainly not as much as I want to). Dunedin has something special.  It's a city, but it's small.  It has definite seasons (something I found I loved when living in T-Bay, because there weren't really any). 

Dunedin is ace.  Thanks Adrienne for documenting the things I love about this place.



http://dunedinisforlovers.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/dunedinite-profile-magical-world-of-lara.html

http://dunedinisforlovers.blogspot.co.nz/?view=magazine

When you win an award for teaching ...

 

 

It is a weird thing indeed. Teachers tend to go about their day to day business trying to engage and stimulate the minds of young people (one would hope we have these lofty goals, anyway!) It was very surprising to apply for and receive one of four New Zealand Spelling Bee Awards for Teachers.

I'm very grateful.  I'm looking forward to exploring what other schools do with curriculum; writing in particular.  I really want to visit John Marsden's schools just out of Melbourne, but I have no idea if that's a goer or just a pie-in-the-sky dream; his secondary school doesn't open until next year.  Both Candlebark and the latter have very different structures than most schools - writing for one will be a core subject at the new arts-focused secondary school.

It was interesting reading one perspective on writing as a core subject here.  I can understand how English teachers see themselves as readers over writers - writing is hard!  Reading is (mostly) all pleasure.  I've always tried to keep writing to model this practice for my students as I agree that teachers should be modelling what they want students to be doing themselves.

How exciting it is to think that school could support a life in arts in this way!

http://www.spellingbee.co.nz/teacher-awards

For those who are interested, here's my application. It's been edited a little bit to take out some names and specifics that are unnecessary in this format.

The Spelling and Language initiative

The English document in the New Zealand Curriculum is surprising, to some, in its expectations.  The first paragraph is headed ‘What is English about?’ and the very first sentence states that the subject is about ‘the study, use and enjoyment of the English language and its literature …’ (italics added).  Enjoyment? At school? In English, no less?  Whilst this is an unusual and hefty ask (English is the only curriculum area that lists ‘enjoyment’ as a criteria) it is this statement that has inspired me in the creation of my English courses.  In this explanation, I will focus particularly on the language initiative that I have developed over the five years I have spent in teaching in Dunedin.  In particular, I will explain what is happening in my Year 9 programme to foster a love of words, and spelling, in my new-to-high-school students.

Students, by nature of age and inclination, want to have fun. Most would endorse the use of the word ‘enjoyment’ in the New Zealand Curriculum.  And yet many find that high school, in particular, starts to stifle a sense of fun that is perhaps still present at primary and intermediate schools.  I think that enjoyment comes from freedom and space to create and be creative.  Even as adults, we flourish when creative freedom is endorsed.  Being allowed the time to create and, critically, evaluate is imperative to a student’s growth of skill and enjoyment in both language use and mechanical understandings – including spelling.

Lara Liesbeth’s initiative – what it involves

Year 9 students at our school have four periods of English a week.  One period is a library period, in which reading and book discussions are prioritised and valued.  Whilst this is not in any way my initiative, it adds to the sense of freedom and enjoyment I am trying to nurture in my Year 9 programme.  The support of the school is crucial. 

For the three periods a week we have together in the classroom, I start every lesson with free writing or reading.  Thus, choice is immediately offered – a crucial aspect of freedom and enjoyment. Generally, 75% of the class will choose to write.  Those that do not are still engaging in ‘the use and enjoyment of the English language’, as stated in the Curriculum.  These readers are involved in the second phase of the initiative.  Approximately 20 minutes is given to this – 10 silently writing and 10 discussing.  This discussion phase is the critical component of the language initiative. 

After 10 minutes writing, students are given the choice to read their work aloud.  At the start of the year, there is a little shyness about this, but after two or three weeks, students learn, through repetition (because this is happening every lesson, without fail) and modelling from other students (ako) that my room is a safe space and sharing is exciting and – that word again – fun.

As students share their work, all other students are actively listening.  I am constantly impressed with how interested and supportive fellow students are of those who share their writing. At the beginning of the year, I am the main commentator on the shared work.  I will pick one, sometimes two, clear and critical decisions or techniques that are enhancing the work.  This may be a language technique, or a choice of vocabulary.  It may be a plot device, or a narrative strand.  It all depends on the writing that is offered up in that moment, in that class.  The students are exposed to this key literacy technique of ‘thinking aloud’, as articulated in Effective Literacy Strategies in Years 9-13: a teacher’s guide (81).  In this guide, the strategy of shared reading (reading with and talking with students) is examined in the context of unfamiliar texts.  My initiative is all about the close reading of unfamiliar texts; for when students share their work, other students are immediately exposed to an unfamiliar text.  The beautiful thing is that there is a real sense of ownership from the student who is sharing – they produced the unfamiliar text for the class to evaluate.  Effective Literacy Strategies states that ‘… when students enjoy learning and believe in their own … abilities, they are likely to engage with their texts.’ (55).  Note that, again, fun and enjoyment is discussed as a fundamental touchstone of language and language learning.  To model this, I also write book reviews regularly and blog on the experience of teaching (Liesbeth, “Time to change how we educate”).

As the year progresses, students become braver, and most will eventually share their work.  Not only this, but students also start to critically evaluate other students work in a safe environment.  Evaluation is a crucial thinking skill in Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive processes (“Effective Literacy Strategies” 94). When we ‘read between the lines’, we are ‘using information to make judgments or form opinions; (we) justify, assess, decide; (we ask) what is best …? What do you think …?’ (Ibid) Thus, literacy (including spelling mastery, or at the very least, improvement) is enhanced.

The measurement of the effectiveness of this programme is necessarily enigmatic.  Text and meaning are both co-created in the classroom in each specific lesson.  The ‘magic’ of words and literature and language is shared and co-constructed between student and student, and student and teacher.  Anecdotal evidence and formative assessment that suggests learning is most definitely occurring.  When I see my Year 9 students hotly debating why ‘focussing’ should have one or two s’s; why onomatopoeia is the best technique to use in THAT sentence in THAT piece of writing, I can assess that love of language, words and (through whole learning) spelling is happening.  When students are given real situations in which their work matters, learning and, yes, fun, happens.  And I think, as our Curriculum suggests, that’s what it’s all about.

Lara Liesbeth

Works cited 

Liesbeth, Lara. Time to change how we educate. http://timetochangehowweeducate.blogspot.co.nz/. Web. 1 July 2015.

Ministry of Education. Effective Literacy Strategies in Years 9-13: a teacher’s guide. Wellington: Learning Media, 2004. Print.

The New Zealand Curriculum online. Te Kete Ipurangi, http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Learning-areas/English. Web. 1 July 2015.

Part of the Otago Daily Times article on this prize. There are three other national recipients.