Writers on Mondays: Witi Ihimaera

Overview

The International Institute of Modern Letters' event series Writers On Mondays is a highlight of the Wellington literary calendar, offering a stimulating start to the working week as a broad range of writers active in the region, as well as guests attracted from abroad are invited to converse on exploratory topics relevant to their work.

Celebrated author Witi Ihimaera joins this year's programme, and will engage in conversation with rising novelist Tina Makereti around the theme Writing Time. The writers are back-to-back recipients of the Randell Cottage residency, with Ihimaera succeeding Makereti this year with the intention of working on the second part of his memoir Native Son.

The authors will discuss their current works in progress, the importance of writer residencies and the nuances of writing imaginative history. The latter topic is exceedingly central to Ihimaera's works, as his fiction often draws from autobiographical experiences, reinterpreting Iwi concerns from the viewpoint of the past, and imagining settings for his narratives that are recreations of actual places.

Writing Time with Witi Ihimaera and Tina Makereti takes place at 12.15pm, Monday 31 August in The Marae, Level 4 of Te Papa Museum. The conversation will run for approximately one hour. Admission is free, all welcome.