i’m really grateful to Tīhema Baker for speaking with me about his new novel One Day a Taniwha (Hachette) i was a massive fan of Tīhema’s last novel Turncoat and i’ve enjoyed hearing Tīhema talk over the last few years.
i was lucky enough to read Tīhema’s book last year and i loved it. i reread it for this podcast and i still love it. Maybe even more. It’s an incredibly compelling story set in several planes of experience – centrally the waking and sleeping lives. It’s an incredibly intelligent and beautiful novel. Through this deft craft i think it makes possible new ways of thinking about fatherhood, work, mental health and how these are effected by colonisation and colonialism. In our discussion i touch on how fresh and cutting edge Tīhema’s depiction of fatherhood is. i just can’t recommend it enough.
This podcast was recorded over Zoom.
Action: Mana Whenua Health Providers
Rather than highlighting a particular organisation, in discussion with Tīhema, we wanted to do a more generic shout-out to Mana Whenua Health Services around the motu who are doing an amazing job of providing services and advocacy for their communities during a time when there is a need to fill the gap left by cuts to public health funding. There was a false narrative that gained legs during the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora that Māori were creating a separate health system. In reality, these Mana Whenua Health Services provide for their entire communities which include services to Māori, Pākeha, Pasifika and all people. So we wanted to say a massive thank you to these organisations and the many people who work and support them.
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Music in Better off Read was made by Brent McIntyre.
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