2022
Claudia Jardine is a writer and musician who grew up in Ōtautahi. She graduated from Victoria University of Wellington | Te Herenga Waka in 2020 with a Master of Arts in Classics and now works as a free-lance arts administrator, educator and editor.
Her debut poetry chapbook The Temple of Your Girl was published in 2020 by Auckland University Press in AUP New Poets 7, and her writing can be found in many of Aotearoa's literary journals and poetry websites. Her debut music release, North EP (2019), made it onto the national independent radio charts, and she frequently features in the local gig circuit as both a performance poet and a solo music artist. She has participated in the public programme at The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, completed residences at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora and VERB Readers & Writers Festival, and is currently on the editorial committee for Starling magazine.
Her debut poetry chapbook The Temple of Your Girl was published in 2020 by Auckland University Press in AUP New Poets 7, and her writing can be found in many of Aotearoa's literary journals and poetry websites. Her debut music release, North EP (2019), made it onto the national independent radio charts, and she frequently features in the local gig circuit as both a performance poet and a solo music artist. She has participated in the public programme at The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, completed residences at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora and VERB Readers & Writers Festival, and is currently on the editorial committee for Starling magazine.
2020 & 2021
Nathan Joe is a Chinese-Kiwi playwright, performance poet and critic based in Ōtautahi. His work largely focuses on the slipperiness of identity and the politics of desire. Nathan was the inaugural writer in residence for the NZ Young Writers Festival in 2019, the Ursula Bethell writer in residence at The University of Canterbury in 2020, and a Michael King Writer Centre resident in 2021.
The turning point for Nathan's deep dive into poetry was reading at a spoken word night for Asian writers and realising people were entertained by his deviant shenanigans. His latest play 'Scenes from a Yellow Peril' will be presented at the Auckland Arts Festival as a rehearsed reading in 2021. More information on his most recent work can be found at: nathanjoe.com |
2017
DaisySpeaks stands on the shoulders of Tulafale-Orators from the shores of Samatau, Saipipi and Vailu’utai in Samoa. Born and raised in South Auckland, Daisy is a proud Epsom Girls Grammar alumni. Her husband Seta is a Creative too and they have 3 little girls: Hadassah, Micahlei and Honor. Daisy is completing a Masters of Business Administration at the University of Canterbury and recently joined Regenerate Christchurch, the organization charged with leading Christchurch from recovery to regeneration, as an Engagement Advisor.
Daisy has taught English at Cashmere High School, performed in Corporate events, and runs Spoken Word Poetry workshops in schools, youth groups, community organizations and detention centers. She knows words have the power to explore who we are, where we come from, to make sense of the world around us, to heal and to describe the future we want to create. Poetry is all around you. Poetry is water. |
2015
Moana Thompson from Aranui, east Christchurch was a part of Rising Voices, the NZ slam and other open mics around Christchurch city including co-founding Faultline Poetry Collective from 2011-2019. Moana has considered herself a writer since the age of 10 and tends to write about where she’s from and who she has met.
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2014, 2016, 2018 & 2019
Ray Shipley is an Ōtautahi-based comedian, poet, and professional book-pusher. Ray's debut comedy show, He & She, was nominated for Best Newcomer in 2018 and the following year they were a Billy T nominee for their show All This Crying Is Making Me Hungry. Ray has won the Christchurch Poetry Slam four times, and placed third nationally in 2018. Ray is a regular fixture at comedy and poetry shows across the city, and a much loved MC - hosting everything from queer balls to platter making competitions to political debates. Their poetry can be found in the anthologies Solid Air (UQP, 2019), and in Out Here (AUP, 2021), among others.
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2012 & 2013
Phoebe Wright is a teacher and writer who is passionate about climate justice and prison reform and is constantly inspired by the antics of her students.
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2011
Ben Brown (Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Koroki, Ngāti Paoa) is an award winning children's author, a nonfiction writer, a poet and performer. He was appointed inaugural Children's Reading Ambassador for New Zealand, Te Awhi Rito in May 2021. Born in Motueka more years ago than he cares to remember, he now lives in Lyttelton, writing for his supper, reading for the love of it and otherwise reflecting on a new coalescence of words and where they might lead him. He is also the father of two, which he regards as his finest work to date.
Photograph by Sophie Taylor-Brown. |