Pōneke-based writer, activist, and disability rights advocate, Henrietta Bollinger’s debut book Articulations is a collection of essays that speak to their experiences as a queer, disabled person in Aotearoa New Zealand. The book journeys through different personal insights; from first crushes and first periods to parliamentary reform and Disability Pride. Bollinger challenges the norms of our ableist society, asking us to consider better ways of being with each other and ourselves.
Watch our interview with Henrietta Bollinger where we chat about their advocacy work and the process of writing and publishing their first book with Tender Press.
We extend our thanks and appreciation to Henrietta for taking the time to answer our questions, and for providing insight into their writing and disability advocacy work. You can reserve a copy ofArticulations below.
Articulations is a timely, personal, and poignant appraisal of life in Aotearoa. Soundtracked by the Topp Twins, Anika Moa, Woody Guthrie and more, Bollinger’s essays take us on a journey from first crushes and first periods to parliamentary reform and Disability Pride. They challenge the norms of our ableist society, asking us to consider better ways of being with each other and ourselves. (Adapted from Publishers description)
Welcome to the WCL eBook Club, where each month we highlight a popular eBook in our digital collection and give access to an unlimited number of downloads on Libby. That means no waiting in long reserves queues- you’ll get instant access to our monthly popular pick!
It’s a heart-warming coming-of-age story about overcoming adversity. At its centre is Mickey Bloom who is bullied at school and dyslexic who doesn’t think of herself as special, until she discovers her talent for running. Initially she becomes a star, but eventually the pressure to succeed becomes too much and her dreams collapse in tatters. The plot then skips forward a few years — Mickey is now in a dead-end job with a drop-kick boyfriend and a seriously ill mother. After nursing her mother she begins to realise that the only way to find herself again is to run.
The novel is about the glory and pain of putting everything you have on the line to find yourself. An uplifting and inspiring story about a young woman overcoming some big hurdles, it also plunges the reader into the gruelling world of the long-distance runner.
Josie states that the initial idea for the novel came from the idea of “a woman, about to embark on something immensely difficult”. The book was inspired by events from Josie’s own life, and from other athletes she’d heard about.
About Josie Shapiro
Josie Shapiro has a master’s in creative writing from the University of Auckland, where she was awarded a Wallace Arts Scholarship for her work. Her short stories have been published online and in literary journals and her work is included on the anthology Ko Aotearoa Tatou: We are New Zealand. In February, Josie was awarded a Michael King Writers Centre residency.
Her stunning debut novel won the Allen & Unwin Commercial Fiction Prize, and although the book has only just been released it has already featured heavily on many hot, must-read lists. We loved the book so much we decided to make it our eBook club title pick. You can read for free about what all the excitement is about yourself by joining us on our Libby app as we offer unlimited downloads in May of this fabulous newly released title, Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts by Josie Shapiro.
Josie Shapiro’s accomplished debut novel has the compulsive forward motion of a world-class race. You don’t have to be a runner to get the high, just read this book!’
The stunning debut novel by the winner of the Allen & Unwin Commercial Fiction Prize. If you loved Lessons in Chemistry and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, you will adore Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts.
Monica Macansantos’s debut short story collection Love & Other Rituals has already received glowing acclaim and marked her as an author to keep a close eye on. The stories in the collection revolve around Filipinos at home and in the wider diaspora. There are stories set in New Zealand, America, and the Philippines itself.
It’s the delicately relayed emotional journeys her characters undertake that really sets the stories apart. There is longing and beauty, hope and duty, all woven into the stories which are ultimately explorations about what it means to be human. Expect to be surprised and drawn into each tale.
Monica was a James A. Michener Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned an MFA in Writing, and holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters. Her work has appeared many publications such as in The Hopkins Review and the Pantograph Punch to name but a few, and she has been named Notable in the Best American Essays in both 2016 and 2022.
So, when we got the opportunity to interview the Monica about her work, we jumped at it!
We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Monica Macansantos for taking the time to answer our questions about Love & Other Rituals and her writing practice, and for providing such an illuminating insight into her world and work.
You can watch this fascinating and insightful interview below or by visiting our YouTube channel by clicking here.
Love and other rituals / Macansantos, Monica
“A man imprisoned by taboo learns the price of love. A child visits the grave of a cousin she’s never met; another absorbs the fallout of her parents’ divorce. Friendships rupture beyond repair, and family members collide when it comes to caring for their ageing father. These vivid stories of yearning, loneliness and resilience navigate the naivety of childhood, the complications of young adulthood and the politics of marriage. Monica Macansantos is a powerful new voice bringing us the raw and darkly beautiful perspectives of characters lost both in and out of their homeland, the Philippines.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
