Ep 81: Sound Series 9 – Cassandra Barnett and Luke Buda

/ daphnemoran

This is the ninth of our ten-part Sound Series where I talk to writers and artists about their work in relation to sounds they have chosen.

In this episode I talk to Cassandra Barnett and Luke Buda.

  • Cassandra Barnett
  • Luke Buda

Cassandra chose this late-night, early-morning recording:

Luke chose the noise of a lawnmower:

In these podcasts we often talk about a lot of music. I’ve set up a Spotify playlist that captures some of the songs we talk about:

Exercise:

Maybe you’d like to record yourself from another room. Speaking or calling a poem you love.

Set up your recorder in one room and then move yourself to another room and call out your work.

Exercise Showcase

At the end of this series I’m going to make an episode showcasing the responses to these exercises. Maybe you would be willing to share your exercises for this showcase.

The deadline for submitting audio is Thursday 24 September.

There is a list of all the previous exercises here

You can leave your recordings or links to recordings in the comments below.

You can also email me them to me at: betterreadnz@gmail.com

If your sound files are big you can share a Google Drive link or use a service like WeTranfer

Better off Read is available on iTunes and Spotify and most podcasting apps.

Better off Read is also available on PodBean where you can subscribe by clicking here

Or you can listen to it here

Ep 160: Joseph Trinidad and pip adam talk about Lucky Creatures – Better off Read

It was so great to catch up and chat with Joseph Trinidad about his new book Lucky Creatures (Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2026) Reading Joseph's work makes me so excited about reading and speaking with Joe about his practice has made me excited about writing. Thank you Joseph. Joseph's book of essays is one of the best reading experiences i've had this year. It's an incredibly beautifully crafted work which demonstrates Joseph's immense narrative talent. The book as a whole is so satisfying in its journey – one of those the whole being greater than the sum of its parts works. And then, as well, on a sentence-level the essays in Lucky Creatures evoke strong emotions through perfectly rendered sensory details. Lucky Creatures is also a work that stretches the genre of non-fiction and maybe even helps us question the dominance of realism as a form in non-fiction and the essay. i just can't recommend it strongly enough. In our conversation i make particular mention of Joseph's essay 'No eggs in the Nest' which is about having children. i mentioned (with the help of Joseph) Ocean Vuong's book Time is a Mother. What i love about Vuong's book and maybe also Joe's essay is the way both ungender the activity or role of 'mother'. It prompted me to re-read this amazing conversation: On Death, Music and Motherhood: Björk & Ocean Vuong in Conversation that you can read in AnOther magazine. In this conversation Vuong says to Björk: 'What I realised with your music – and this album [Fossora] especially – is that we all have a mother, but we also have people, friends, family who mother us. Mothering is also an act without gender as well as a biological reality – it’s both.' i've put together a sample of some of the writers and writing Joe talks about in this conversation: * Maxine Hong Kingston * Chris Tse * Lana Lopesi * Rose Lu * Ashleigh Young * Wellington Film Society * Carly Rae Jepsen * Chris Price * SZA * Chris Schultz * Kieran McLean * Jess McAllen * Flora Feltham * The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexandrovna Alexievich 'Grist for the mill: the slow death of New Zealand’s industry towns' by Anna Rankin i also just want to say thanks so much to Te Matapihi Ki Te Ao Nui | Central Library. i can't say loudly enough how great it is to have you back and how wonderful it is to be able to record in one of your awesome meeting room spaces! Action: songs of solidarity (sos) Joseph recommended we highlight the work of songs of solidarity (sos) It's a great idea to stay in touch with songs of solidarity through their website or Instagram account. Last week songs of solidarity hosted a kōrero with Joseph and, friend and fellow writer, Shariff Burke about Lucky Creatures, writing, friendship, and everything in between. songs of solidarity say: “we imagine songs of solidarity (SOS) as the space for resistance, resilience, imagination, and coalition building. it is the collaborative space for dreamers – poets, writers, artists, activists, community healers, organisers, and children – who believe in learning/unlearning and collective transformation toward an alternative world – for all.” You can support Better off Read financially at Buy Better off Read a Coffee Music in Better off Read was made by Brent McIntyre.
  1. Ep 160: Joseph Trinidad and pip adam talk about Lucky Creatures
  2. Ep 159: Shana Chandra and pip adam talk about Banjara at Unity Books Te Whanganui-a-Tara
  3. Ep 158: Eva Wyles and pip adam talk about Deliverywoman at Unity Books Te Whanganui-a-Tara
  4. Ep 157: Jordy Rosenberg and pip adam talk about Night Night Fawn at The Open Book
  5. Ep 156: Ray Shipley and pip adam talk about a tarot deck and 'My Body is a Horror Film'

Made with the support of Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa

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