EVOKING THE DIASPORA

Name: EVOKING THE DIASPORA
Start: 2024-10-26T10:30:00+12:00
End: 2024-10-26T11:30:00+12:00
Location: SUTER THEATRE

Jade Kake + Saraid de Silva

Ngā Toi Māori Writers + Kōrero

Multi-generational migrant stories are finding compelling new ways of being told in the capable, creative hands of two of the best debut novelists in Aotearoa, Jade Kake and Saraid de Silva. Both explore belonging and the legacy of intergenerational trauma while mastering a unique way of sharing the diasporic experience. Chaired by Elizabeth Heritage.

In their stunning debut novels, Saraid de Silva’s and Jade Kake’s stories have much in common – we learn about the migrant diasporic experience across three generations, they both explore what belonging looks like and they each examine the legacy of intergenerational trauma – but they have each also mastered a unique way of telling those stories.

In her bestselling debut novel, Amma (which The Spinoff declared would be ‘one of the big adult novels of the year’ while ReadingRoom declared it the ‘Novel of the Year’), de Silva tells a riveting story told by three point of view characters across each generation of a Sri Lankan family who are forever changed by one incident, which spans islands and sends ripples through time.

In Checkerboard Hill, Kake has crafted a story of belonging, dislocation, misunderstandings, identity and fractured relationships. Protagonist Ria, a wahine Māori who was born and raised in Australia but left in her teens has, since then, kept her Australian and New Zealand identities and lives separate – that is, until a family member dies and she returns to her whānau, which is swirling with family tensions and unfinished arguments, and forces her to reckon with her biggest secret.

UPDATE 25 Oct: Nathan Joe will not be chairing this session; a warm welcome to our new chair, Elizabeth Heritage.

All books will be on sale through our festival bookstore PaperPlus Nelson, both through their shop and at their stall at our Pukapuka Talks events. Most authors will be available for book signings after their sessions. You can also buy pukapuka online – please select the Nelson store to collect in person.

Saraid de Silva (she/her)

Saraid de Silva is a Sri Lankan Pākehā writer and creative based in Tāmaki Makaurau. She is the co-creator and co-host of Radio New Zealand’s Conversations with My Immigrant Parents, a podcast and video series in which immigrant whānau across Aotearoa have frank conversations about love, ancestry, home, food, expectation and acceptance. In addition to Amma, de Silva was a contributor to A Clear Dawn: New Asian Voices from Aotearoa New Zealand, and her work has been featured in The Spinoff, Fashion Quarterly, Pantograph Punch and Tupuranga Journal.

Jade Kake (she/her)

Jade Kake (Ngāpuhi — Ngāti Hau me Te Parawhau, Te Whakatōhea, Te Arawa) is an architect and writer of fiction and non-fiction. She is also the author of Rewi and Rebuilding the Kāinga – Lessons from Te Ao Hurihuri. She has won awards for architectural writing, received the Emerging Māori Writer’s Residency at the Michael King Writers Centre in 2019, and the Copyright Licensing New Zealand and New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa Writers’ Award in 2021. In 2020, she was a participant on Te Papa Tupu writers’ mentoring programme. She is also director and founder of Matakohe Architecture and Urbanism and has a Master of Architecture.

Nathan Joe (he/him)

Nathan Joe (he/him) is a New Zealand playwright (2021 Bruce Mason Playwriting Award) and performance poet (2020 National Slam Champion) of Chinese descent. He is the current Creative Director (2022-present) at Auckland Pride. In 2022, his play Scenes from a Yellow Peril had its world premiere at the ASB Waterfront Theatre. In 2023, his play Losing Face had its world premiere at Q Theatre. Other work includes curating BIPOC spoken word event Dirty Passports. 

Elizabeth Heritage (she/her)

If people were like trees, and developed rings, my innermost ring would definitely be ‘reader’, followed by ‘feminist’, and ‘conversationalist’. I have always loved books, reading, writing, and talking; and in my 40s I’ve created for myself a work portfolio that I love and that plays to my strengths.

I value professionalism, courtesy, and honesty. I am always seeking to improve my skills and welcome constructive criticism. Because I have the luxury of working in fields that I find personally as well as professionally fascinating, I tend to come at projects full throttle. I bring to bear not just my practical and technical skills and strategic thinking, but also my ongoing, questioning engagement with the philosophy and ideology behind what I do.

I’m especially keen to work with other queer and disabled writers to help get get the word out about our excellent mahi.