Launching 'Navigating Journeys' by Mana Mangere writers' collective...

Mana Mangere writers and guests at our 'Navigating Journeys' book launch

Yesterday we celebrated launching our latest 'Mana Mangere writers' collective' book "Navigating Journeys". It's the third collection so far and we were very proud to showcase the talents of our community writers both youth and our seniors.

It was held at our local Mangere Town centre library of which also happens to be the venue that we regularly meet at for our bi-monthly meetings and where I grew up and regularly visited as a student growing up in Mangere.

The neat thing about the book launch was that we got to meet the families of some of the writers and then listen to writers reading out their poetry or short stories. I especially liked listening to the youth as there were many stories written from the heart about their life experiences and the seeing the world through their eyes.

I would like to especially thank the staff at the Mangere Town centre library for providing the support and making it happen. To Lemauga Lydia Sosene, the chairperson of our Mangere-Otahuhu local board, who has supported our writers' group right from the start with her plea for us to "amplify" it next year and invite the community to our next book launch, a much-appreciated thanks!

To all the writers, I hope they enjoy their break over the Christmas and holiday break and we look forward to coming together in Feb 1st for our first meeting to start looking at what we will be working on in the coming months.

And an especially big thanks to God who makes miracles such as these things happen, as when I see the smiles on the young writer's faces with the support of their families, I know we're going in the right direction and you never know what can become of something that God blesses in time to come...