Standing Room Only for Sunday 25 September 2022

12:16  Writers in Schools - getting young New Zealanders reading again

A 2020 UNICEF report found that only 64.4% of 15-year-olds in Aotearoa have more than a basic proficiency in reading and maths.  Research also shows that, over the last 10 years, the proportion of young people who are reading for pleasure has decreased significantly.

Read NZ is one of the organisations trying to halt and reverse these depressing statistics.

One thing that historically gets kids to read is a wildly popular book - Harry Potter famously got 11-year-old boys reading in millions!  Other famous page turners include The Hunger Games and the comedies of David Walliams.
  
Which suggests that one way to turn around this country's appalling literacy rates is to get more authors into our schools. 

For the past six years, Read NZ's Programmes Manager Kathryn Carmody has beefed up its Writers in Schools programme, where authors spend time in classrooms answering questions about their books and offering tips to the next generation of writers.

It covers early childhood through to secondary school children.

Now Kathryn's handing the baton on to Simie Simpson who's been in the book trade for more than 20 years. Lynn Freeman invited Kathryn and Simie into the studio, where Kathryn first talked about how the programme works.
 

12:33  Mark Albiston's short film Datsun goes on the road

When the old Datsun 120Y that belonged to his late father is about to be sold, a teenage boy takes his younger brother and cousin out for a final road trip.

This is the start of Datsun, the latest short film by Kiwi Mark Albiston.

Things quickly spiral out of control  - drugs, explosions, and a high speed chase.

Datsun has already picked up awards at overseas festivals, and won People's Choice at last year's Covid-affected New Zealand International Film Festival.  Now it's about to be shown as part of the Show Me Shorts Festival.

Mark's previous shorts - Run in 2007 followed by The Six Dollar Fifty Man -  each received a Special Distinction award at Cannes.  His first feature - the well-received Shopping - came out in 2013.

He talks to Lynn Freeman about directing and co-writing the script for Datsun.

Datsun will show in "The Sampler" section of the 17th Show Me Shorts Festival.  It will show at 36 cinemas and community venues nationwide from the 7th of October.
 

12:45  Simone Kaho's healing poetry

Simone Kaho's poetry collection HEAL! offers up an uncompromising account of an assault that left her traumatised with PTSD, and at times, seemingly without hope.

But the Tongan-Pākehā writer is a survivor, and there is hope within these poems, even if she's still scarred and still angry.

Simone is also a journalist, filmmaker and performance poet, and she's this year's Emerging Pasifika Writer in Residence at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington.

Her second collection comes six years after her first, Lucky Punch,  was published.    It's the first publication from Saufo`i Press.

She tells Lynn Freeman that writing HEAL! has been part of years of hard work to recover after being ambushed and assaulted:

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS INTERVIEW CONTAINS REFERENCES TO VIOLENCE AND SELF HARM.

 HEAL! by Simone Kaho is published by Saufo`i Press.  If this interview has raised concerns for you then contact LIFELINE  on 0800 543 354

 

1:10 At The Movies

This week Simon Morris reviews See how they run, Maigret and Ticket to Paradise.

 

1:31  Navy stories captured on one special quilt

The Royal New Zealand Navy has a new taonga - a quilt sewn by 12 serving and retired female naval personnel with each of the 49 squares telling a story of their time in service.

Those stories cover 6 decades, with the sewers aged from their 30s to their 80s.

It's taken 18 months to complete, with the sewers repurposing old navy uniforms, buttons and braid to create the squares.

It's about to be shown to the public in an exhibition called Threads Through Time at the Torpedo Bay Navy Museum in Devonport.

Lynn Freeman spoke to two of the contributors - Chief Petty Officer Fiona Carter who's working within Fleet Personnel at the Devonport Naval Base, and to Sandy Watson who served in the Navy as an Able Signals Wren 1969-71, and then in the 1980s with the Reserves. 

Threads Through Time opens to the public at Auckland's Torpedo Bay Navy Museum on the 1st of October as part of the Auckland Heritage Festival.
 

1:46  NZ Barok returns with Court to Cathedral

NZ Barok - New Zealand's Baroque instrument orchestra is about to reunite after a lengthy hiatus, putting their own spin on famous and lesser-known examples of Baroque - classical music of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. .

Graham McPhail is co-artistic director of NZ Barok, and a professor in early music at University of Auckland's School of Music. 

The orchestra members are leading Baroque specialists from all over the motu and are coming together to play three concerts alongside eight Baroque singers.

Lynn Freeman spoke with Graham about Baroque music, in particular the music of Bach and Handel.

NZ Barok's Court to Cathedral concert takes place at St Luke's Church in Remuera in Tāmaki Makaurau for 3 nights starting on September 30.

 

2:06 The Laugh Track - Laura Yakas

Comedians used to come from pretty predictable places - class clowns, say, or people who desperately wanted to be in showbiz but couldn't sing or dance!   But these days they come from anywhere.   In some cases they're not even that interested in showbiz. 

Like today's Laugh Track guest.  What Laura Yakas wanted to be was an anthropologist, and an activist for social justice - both of which she achieved.   But she also believes comedy is a good way to get your point across.

She's about to launch a show at the Whangārei Fringe called Miss Anthropy, which she describes as a "satirical pageant, blending social justice and Disney princess songs".

Simon Morris chats with Laura Yakas on the Laugh Track.

Her picks include Bo Burnham, Hannah Gadsby, Aamer Rahman, Josh Blue and Whitney Cummings.  

Laura's show Miss Anthropy - a Pageant for the People-Averse is on at the Whangārei Fringe's pop-up venue McLeod's Fringe After Dark on October the 1st and 12th.

 

2:27  Nelson Clay Week - celebrating the region's potters and ceramics

Nelson is about to host its first Clay Week, celebrating all things ceramic.  It will bring together potters from around the country to share their knowledge through conversations, masterclasses and workshops thoughout the region.

Attending a bunch of the workshops will be Lyttelton-based potter Sam Elise, who's keen to soak up some advice from the experienced ceramicists who'll be there. 

Lynn Freeman spoke to Sam, and also one of the organisers of Nelson Clay Week, Tom Baker.  Tom's co-owner of both the Hot Clay Gallery and the Kiln Studio in the city.   He says they decided to create something similar to Nelson Jewellery Week which started last year.

The first Nelson Clay Week starts on the 1st of October and runs for 9 days.
 

2:40 Sharron Came's novel in stories - Peninsular

 

Sharron Came's first book Peninsula, which won the 2021 Adam Foundation Prize for best MA folio, has been described as ''A novel in stories''.

The stories follow three generations of a Northland farming family, the Carltons.  It's a period of huge changes in farming, mirrored by upheavals within the family.  While some embrace the lifestyle, others yearn to leave.

Sharron lives in Wellington, but she opted to set her stories where she grew up, in rural Northland. 

She talks to Lynn Freeman about separating real life and fiction.

Peninsula by Sharron Came is published by Te Herenga Waka University Press.

 

 

2:49 Po' Boys and Oysters - Caribbean Kiwi playwright Estelle Chout

It's been a while, but finally a play about a black lesbian couple wanting to adopt a child is about to hit the stage. 

Estelle Chout's script for Po' Boys and Oysters was nominated for an Adam's NZ Playwriting Award in 2021 and the comedy's debut was originally scheduled a year ago.

But Covid-19 meant the production had to be abandoned...twice.

The show will go on later this week with Estelle, who was born in the French Caribbean country of Martinique, in one of the leading roles.

She tells Lynn Freeman one of the inspirations of the play was that she simply wasn't seeing stories she could relate to - about Caribbean Kiwi queer life - on our screens or stage.  

.Po' Boys and Oysters written by and starring Estelle Chout will finally have its debut on the 27th of September at The Basement Theatre in Tamaki Makarau.

 

3:06 Drama at 3 - Lifestyle Block by Sue McCauley

Pamela’s marriage is suddenly over. Her chance meeting with a bank robber and a desperate gambler changes their lives forever. Lifestyle Block concerns an unusual love triangle, robberies, guns and gambling.

The play was directed by Vanessa Byrnes,   The line manager was Kate Orgias, and the production engineer Phil Benge.

The part of Pamela was played by Perry Piercy,  Shane by Kirk Torrance, Jodi  -  Hera Dunleavy,  The Psychologist -  K C Kelly,  Police by Louis Sutherland and Shannon Small and Toi Whakaari Drama Students provided the background prison noise.
 

 

 

Music played in this show

Artist: Unit Four Plus Two
Song: Concrete and clay
Composer: Parker - Moeller
Album: Leader of the Pack:  Sound of the Sixties
Label: Old Gold
Played at: 12.16

Artist: Gillian Welch
Song: Red Clay Halo
Composer:  Rawlings-Welch
Album: Time the Revelator
Label: Acony
Played at: 12.31

Artist: Darcy Clay
Song: Jesus I was evil
Composer: Clay-Bolton
Album: Jesus I was evil
Label: Antenna
Played at: 1.07

Artist: Judy Clay and Billy Vera
Song: Country girl and city man
Composer:  Taylor
Album: Wild Thing: Songs of Chip Taylor
Label: Ace
Played at: 1.44

Artist: Bloc Party
Song:   Song for Clay (Disappear here)
Composer: Bloc Party
Album: A weekend in the city
Label: Wichita
Played at: 1.58

Artist:   Joe Clay
Song:  Don't mess with my Ducktail
Composer: Grayzill
Album: Best of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour
Label: Chromedreams
Played at: 2.05

Artist: Clay Parker and Jodi Jones
Song: Katie's Blues
Composer: Parker-Jones
Album: The lonesomest sound that can sound
Label: Amazon Music
Played at: 2.58

Artist:   Dennis Alcapone
Song:  Cassius Clay
Composer: Alcapone
Album: 400% Dynamite
Label: Souljazz
Played at: 3.05

Artist: James Galway
Song: Song of Clay
Composer: Fujikake
Album: The enchanted forest:  Melodies of Japan
Label: RCA
Played at: 3.58