In September 2012, almost exactly eleven years ago, the NZ Society of Authors, Northland Branch held their first NorthWrite conference in Whangārei. We had amazing presenters at this event: Fifi Colston, Joe Bennet, Kyle Mewburn, Deborah Challinor, David Hill, Michelle Elvy, Paula Green and Zana Bell to name a few.

On the Friday night before the conference, we had an opening dinner. At one table, the topic turned to pavlova and we discovered we all had a pavlova tale to tell. Now, I can’t remember who exactly was at that table but I know Fifi was there, and Michelle, as well as myself and Jac, Margaret Cahill, Di Menefy and Lesley Marshall. One or two of the other participants or speakers may have been there as well.

There were some pavlova stories that really stuck in our minds – Di’s and Jac’s for a start (both of which are in Pav Deconstructed) – and someone said, wouldn’t a book of collected pavlova tales be a great idea.

No one took up the idea, but a few of us remembered it.

Fast forward five or six years. Jac, Margaret, Michelle and I were out to dinner and the talk once again turned to pavlova, but not to the dessert this time, to the book. In a rash moment, I decided I would take on the challenge, and Jac jumped on board, surfing the wake of craziness with me.

Over the next few years, the idea of establishing Pavlova Press as a vehicle to launch such a book was bandied between us, and, in 2019, Jac and I made our press a reality, publishing first a book of short prose (Scoria) and then in 2021 a book of collected works about Kerikeri (Ngā Ripo Wai).

In early 2021, we started our search for pavlova tales. Sticking with crazy, we decided this was not going to be just prose and poetry, this was going to be a gorgeous coffee-table-style book with artwork as well as stories and poems. Hence the incredibly long time it has taken for us to bring this book together.

Jac and I can’t thank the pavlova-tale tellers at NorthWrite 2012 and all our contributors enough; we feel so blessed to have you on this journey with us. However, there is one person whose absence is strongly felt. In March 2020, our dear friend and most ardent supporter, Margaret Cahill, passed away. We miss her deeply and Pav Deconstructed is dedicated to her.