Why talk about being mixed-heritage?
Join us for a free author kōrero Thursday 12 September at Karori Library to celebrate 'Everything That Moves, Moves Through Another', an anthology of mixed-heritage creatives from across Aotearoa.
Everything That Moves, Moves Through Another is a landmark anthology published by 5ever Books that brings together the creative work of 27 mixed-heritage creatives from across Aotearoa. Join us at the free author kōrero and hear from authors Nkhaya Paulsen-More, Emma Sidnam, romesh dissanayake and Yani Widjaja about their contributions to the anthology and experiences around being mixed-heritage creatives.
Yani Widjaja, one of our featured speakers, says:
Aotearoa New Zealand has become home to many different ethnic groups, and according to the census data from 2023, we are on the trajectory for increasing ethnic diversity. Consequently, we can only expect to see the presence of multi-ethnic populations grow. This isn’t to say however, that mixed-heritage people have not been present throughout New Zealand’s population evolution, as particularly around early colonial times, there was a preoccupation with mixed race Māori/Pākehā or ‘half-castes.’ Although mixed heritage people are now less anomalous than they were perhaps in 1843, there is still a clear lack of understanding and representation for this growing populous, as well as multi-ethnicity in Aotearoa more generally. One example of this is the New Zealand census ethnicity question, which has gone through several reiterations. Despite New Zealand being praised as one of the only countries that accepts ethnic self-identification in its census, the constant revision of the question’s wording has proved misleading as to whether a person can belong to one or multiple ethnic groups.
Now more than ever, Aotearoa New Zealand’s changing identity requires new understandings and further ethnic literacy. Not simply concerning data sets and categories, but concerning our communities, our mokopuna, the multiplicity that they carry.
Event Details:
Everything That Moves, Moves Through Another: Author kōrero
Thursday 12 September 2024
5:30 – 6:30pm
Te Māhanga Karori Library
Free, all welcome
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