Celebrating Mana Mangere Voices book launch...

Mana Mangere Writers Collective at the book launch yesterday (2 absent)

Wow! what a day yesterday as Mana Mangere Writers Collective (6 of 8) launched our first collection of short stories and poetry at Mangere Town Centre library (with the exception of two members who were absent due to important family circumstances.)

From left to right: Tofilau Fritz (my beloved and poet), Fred Zombos (poet), Saulaina Sale (poet), Afamasaga Agnes Rasmussen (poetry & non-fiction), Mahuika Anderson (novelist) and me (Penny Barnhill (short story) & Pania Newton (poetry) in absentia).

It was a neat day as we started with a welcome by Library Manager: Sonia Munro, M.C'd by my beloved and then a book blessing by local school Chaplain Janet Tuitama followed by each writer reading a chosen poem, extract etc from the book and ending with a Q and A session plus refreshments and a special cake.

I was also given a slot to talk about the book and share a little about my journey of having a dream that didn't make it off the ground for some three decades and then making the decision to go for it and the rest is history but the really neat thing was to share the joy with fellow writers whose families were able to see their writer's dream come to fruition in a book now published.

It was also such a blessing to have various people at the book launch share about some of the stories about family members or in seeing this project come to fruition that it encouraged them to seek their dreams and follow their passion towards meeting goals made.

As a writer it gave me great joy (to say the least) to see so many people enjoying the moment and sharing together in a celebration of something that was beyond us in that it was a special blessing and a time for something such as this in our community...