LT Black Arts with Tina Makereti

Murri Country

Tune in for another brilliant episode of Let’s Talk – Black Arts as Rachael catches up with Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangatahi-Matakore and Pākehā writer, poet and educator, Tina Makereti to talk about her newest novel, The Mires.

The Mires is officially out on the 3rd July, but we were lucky enough to receive an advance copy of the book before this interview, which made us even more excited about talking to Tina about The Mires, writing, and the role of art in the ongoing struggle against colonial occupation and climate change.

Rachael & Tina reflect on the way that stories can connect us more deeply to one another; how fiction can help us to grapple with the mess and contradiction of everyday life in the midst of permanent, worsening crisis. We learn a bit about how these characters came to life, and what brought the book into being, as well as learning about Tina’s own ongoing project of refusing to live on the terms of the colony, and prioritising care, love, joy and, above all, life.

So get yourself a cuppa, settle in, and enjoy another rich episode of Let’s Talk Black Art.

Water will come and you think it will be soft. You think it will be smooth and find its way around your things: your houses and cars and furniture; your gardens and windows and hope. But water can be the foot of an elephant, the horns of a moose, a herd of buffalo running from a lion, water can be the kauri falling in the forest, a two-tonne truck, a whole stadium filled with 50,000 people, screaming … Water is life, and water can be death.

The Mires is a tender and fierce novel that asks what we do when faced with things we don’t understand. Is our impulse to destroy or connect?

You can get yourself a copy from Ultimo Press from Wednesday 3rd July.

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