Busyness in Book stalls and promos and room for indigenous perspectives and spaces...

This year is already looking to be a very busy year with my first book stall already completed and am now with a South Auckland group of entrepreneurs who will be promoting our products at a 'pop-up shop' near the Quay at Auckland's CBD for tourists and interested visitors to visit and view.

It's a really interesting space because it encourages people with indigenous backgrounds to move into a creative space that allows for selling of products to a local, national and international market i.e. cruise ships that visit enroute nearby.

My interest is particularly about sharing our stories especially for our next generations but also to those who care about preserving indigenous histories, stories and cultural traditions that bring meaning to many who are still marginalised or oppressed or still being colonised into thinking that their cultures don't count in the scheme of things.

These spaces allow for a 'normalisation' of being proud (not arrogant) of who we are and to put a face to the often faceless creators behind mass productions. I've been asked to read for a week during the lunchtime sessions or to be able to have video of people (celebrities?) reading our books. However, for me it's not about celebrity endorsement (plus the fact that I don't know many :) but it was for an audience of whom ever are interested to learn from these stories.

So it's something I'm considering and it's also a short story that I'm working on to put into our next Mana Writers collective collection of short stories and poetry which we hope to be produced and ready for launching by the end of the year.

Already a busy year ahead...