art & about with naomi mccleary
Slow tango into 2021
Welcome to the world of podcasts. Visit www. goingwestfest.co.nz to download the best of 24 years of the Going West festival.
The Going West Writers Festival can reasonably be described as a cultural icon of the west. Twenty five years of serving up a smorgasbord of Aotearoa’s literary delights embraced in Westie hospitality has created an annual event loved and welcomed by book lovers from across the region. The success of the festival ran the risk of becoming a barrier to change; why reinvent something that everyone loved? How to preserve the magic of being entranced by wordsmiths from all over the country while being open to new ways to access that magic? The Going West Trust has battered at that door for years. Always hard when one person (Murray Gray) had created a style and tone so individual; and imprinted his personality, and his capriciousness, all over it! But slow change was coming and more youthful faces were bringing a new look to the festival. Then came Covid-19! Bang in the middle of planning a 25th anniversary event, the world, our world, ground to a halt; and the rest of 2020 is now history. In no way to diminish the pain and suffering that Covid-19 has wrought on our lives, there have been wins, not the least the culture of kindness and empathy that has so contributed to our current success (yes, fingers crossed!) For Going West it was the seismic shock that was needed. We had to join the world online; and what a busy world it rapidly became; one in which you had to be smart and inventive to grab attention. Our other blessing and good fortune was that we had already put younger, tech-savvy word-lovers in charge. First, we looked back into the 24 years of broadcast quality recordings of previous Going West festival presentations and discussions. It had always been a frustration that this treasure trove was sitting in our library's research centre – available on request but not widely known. Neither time nor resources had ever
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allowed us to take these remarkable recordings and make them truly accessible. Welcome to the world of podcasts! A team of producer, researcher, editor, designer, and technician threw themselves into this generously funded project (blessings on CNZ!) and for most of last year podcasts poured out at the rate of three per week. This has slowed now to a more sustainable rate, but there is an ongoing source of supply and many a quirky conversation yet to come. You can find them on www.goingwestfest.co.nz or on all major audio platforms. Part of looking back has been a dream to publish an anniversary book of the 24 years of keynote speakers at Going West. Every year a notable writer has been invited to address a particular theme; to wax eloquent over 30 to 40 minutes and explore some aspect of our culture, history, identity and future. Some remarkable people have taken the stage to do this. Michael King for example, four days after 9/11. Again, with time and resources to hand, and in partnership with our local book publisher, Oratia Media, Voices of Aotearoa: 25 Years of Going West Oratory will hit the presses this year and be launched at Going West in September. The next great and ongoing discussion has been about commissioning new work. Going West always wanted to break new writing, poetry, theatre – and we knew how costly in time and money that would be – and what long lead-in times are necessary. Much of that conversation was around theatre. We had always featured New Zealand theatre but were responding to what was out there. Under Producer James Littlewood the focus has shifted to poetry videos and literary documentaries. Collaborative teams of videographers and poets are spinning new work to be released online this year and documentary film makers have been invited to submit proposals for 'literary narratives'. This takes us into uncharted territory. None of this precludes a live festival (Covid-19 willing) in September, but what will that look like? How do we keep the warmth, intimacy, generosity and depth of discourse that has so characterised Going West? Where are the new voices? How do we weave conversation, content, oratory, and performance in challenging ways to create full-bodied and diverse sessions? Continued on page 21 >>
Give yourself a break ...
Lithophane Landscapes
Porcelain and acrylic wall mounted lightboxes On exhibit in Portage 20/20 - Te Uru, Titirangi, until Feb 28 Please enquire for commissions
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The Fringe NOVEMBER FEBRUARY 2021 2020
A Beach House at Piha
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