MAKING SENSE & MAKING FUN
Joseph Trinidad + Pax Assadi
Joseph Trinidad‘s memoir-in-essays, Lucky Creatures, is a bold and playful collection about rebuilding life after his family emigrated from the Philippines. Standup comedian Pax Assadi, who grew up in a Pakistani/Iranian immigrant family, will be discussing his joyfully chaotic memoir, Mortified, which explores what we gain by embracing moments that make us cringe.
In his debut essay collection, Lucky Creatures, award-winning Filipino-Kiwi essayist Joseph Trinidad explores the lessons of his grandmother’s chicken farm and his grandfather’s lucky golden fish; the vibrancy of his home country and its rites of passage such as tuli, beauty pageants and national Boy Scout jamborees; the contradictions of Aotearoa, which welcomes his family’s labour but insists they leave their mother tongues at the border; and his own journey of coming out, along with the hard work of actualisation that follows as he and his partner grapple with the desire to have a baby.
In Mortified, Pax Assadi examines what we lose by hiding our shame, and what we gain by sharing it. In this hilarious and painfully honest memoir, Pax retraces his story by interrogating the memories he’s tried to keep in the dark; from herding ducks in West Auckland to catastrophic culture shock in Pakistan, to being catfished, conned, heartbroken and humbled. Mortified is a true celebration of laughter and vulnerability.
Joseph Trinidad
Joseph Trinidad is a Filipino writer who lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. His work has been featured in Landfall, North & South, Te Papa, The Spinoff, Turbine | Kapohau and with Migrant Zine Collective. He was the winner of the 2023 Adam Foundation Prize from the International Institute of Modern Letters and the 2023 Asian Ink from Playmarket. His debut essay collection, Lucky Creatures, was awarded the inaugural Sarabande Prize in the Essay.
Pax Assadi
Pax Assadi is one of New Zealand’s most exciting comedic voices. Since beginning stand-up in 2012, he has earned multiple nominations including the Billy T Award, the NZCG Breakthrough Comedian of the Year, Best Male Comedian, and the prestigious Fred Dagg Award. Pax has been a regular face on New Zealand television, appearing on 7 Days, Word Up, Crack Up, Brown Eye, the NZ International Comedy Gala — and most recently as a contestant on Taskmaster NZ. He is also the co-creator, writer, and star of the critically acclaimed comedy series Raised by Refugees. Born in New Zealand to immigrant parents, Pax’s sharp, heartfelt storytelling resonates across cultures and audiences.
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