Mixed | Creative Writing by Newcomers to Our Shores
THE BOOK…
Mixed: Creative Writing For Newcomers to Our Shores presents a selection of written works in various genres that tell the stories of new immigrants to New Zealand. Their work has been compiled and published alongside graphic illustrations which tell the viewer more about them as a person and about their culture.
THE Backstory…
“Mixed” originally started out as a mentoring project called “Write from the Heart”. Angie set out on a mission to teach and mentor immigrants as they negotiated the process of telling and writing their stories in various written forms. The call for interest went out across the Internet, and contributors range in ethnicity, age, length of time spent in New Zealand and their abilities to speak and write in English.
The work from those with little English is remarkable. As monolingual kiwis we can only admire the courage and strength found by contributors to meet the challenge of reaching into their hearts, dislodging suppressed memories and finding the right words in a foreign language to share their hopes, dreams and journeys.
These are their stories. This is their book.
The ART…
The written contributions are complemented by graphically designed photographic prints by Brazilian artist Lucia Lemos M. Coneicao. Learn more about the artist here. Each artwork is a response to the poetry or prose, participant’s stories or is a visual prompt about the culture they come from. An exhibition at the Arts Village Rotorua will launch the book, complete with traditional song, dance and oral story telling.
