Young people ‘busting out’

Tu Tangata, Issue 6, 1 June 1982, Page 25

Young people ‘busting out’

Prominent writer Witi Ihimaera was in Masterton, Friday May 7 speaking to senior pupils of Makoura College.

He spoke to the students as part of the month-long Takitimu Festival of Arts, held during May in conjunction with the Wairarapa Arts Centre. Ihimaera discussed with the pupils some of the difficulties and influences he had had with his writings. He shared memories of his life with them, explaining that his was not a success story, but a learning experience. “Witi Ihimaera wasn’t really born till 1970,” he said of himself. “Everything for me has come very late.” Scholarship The 34-year-old is currently on a scholarship at Victoria University for one year, in which he hopes to write four books. He felt that because his first three books were written in a single year, the quality of the literature had suffered. “Now there are younger, more aggressive, street-level writers.” In wanting to help them he compiled the most recent collection of stories in a book called ‘lnto the World of Light’. Workshop The following day at the festival three other writers joined him, Patricia Grace, Bruce Stewart, and poet Apirana Taylor.

The four writers briefly discussed attitudes to work, then continued into a workshop reading and talking about poems and stories. Founder of the Tapu Te Ranga marae in Wellington, Bruce Stewart spoke of the darkness that had kept many people in bondage. “A lot of young people are busting out that darkness. “Just like a tree in the forest, they are reaching for the light. Creativity is light.” Gathering up That night during a Wine and Cheese evening the writers read some of their works and showed their wholehearted support for what the host committee was trying to do, in gathering all the Arts and Crafts of the Maori under one umbrella. Both of the writers’ sessions were chaired by patron of the Society of Maori Artists, Mr Wiremu Parker. The festival committee are now discussing the possibility of extending an invitation to the Maori Writers and Artists to hold their annual Queen's Birthday conference in Masterton next year. The conference, which is to be held in Gisborne this year, would be a logical follow-through to the festival, said the secretary of the Takitimu organising committee Rosa Tamepo.