Tag: Pavlova Press

Pav Deconstructed origin story

Published on by katharinederrickLeave a comment

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.

Pav Deconstructed: Pavlova through the eyes of everyday Kiwis

Published on by katharinederrickLeave a comment

Just in time for Christmas 2023!

Pav Deconstructed is a luscious, hard-cover, coffee-table-style book about pavlova. While it does contain a recipe from the wonderful Christall Lowe, it is not a recipe book!

The idea for the book started ten years ago at a dinner table when a group of writers discovered they all had a pavlova tale to tell. Over the past two years, Pavlova Press has been on a quest for the real pavlova, the one seen on Kiwi tables, and not just through the photos in a cookbook. 

Pav Deconstructed brings together experiences and imaginings through poetry, story, and art from everyday Kiwis (and some international imposters) in a collection that shows pavlova is not just a dessert, it is community. 

At Pavlova Press we love this idea of community and believe every Kiwi will see a little bit of themselves inside. We have gathered work from over 150 contributors, many of whom have not been published before, and presented it in an anthology unlike any seen before. Part of our ethos is providing a platform for new voices and we believe Pav Deconstructed does just that.

Our vision for this book is to offer something that is uniquely Kiwi and that resonates with our passion for holding on to what is rightfully ours – Phar Lap, Crowded House, the Bledisloe Cup … and pavlova.

Christmas is just around the corner and we want to make sure as many people as possible have this tasty slice of Aotearoa New Zealand under their Christmas tree. 

* Don’t know what to get your mum for Christmas? 
* Struggling to buy that perfect gift for Nana Hazel or Uncle Jim? 
* Tired of having to think about presents for your sister, Lois, who has everything – including your mum’s pavlova recipe? 
* Want something to remember those times making pavlova with Dad? 
* Need that hard-to-find gift to say sorry to Madge?

Whatever gift-giving scenario you find yourself in, Pav Deconstructed will solve it.

Want to know how to get a copy? Very soon we’ll be launching a PledgeMe campaign to get this book out into the world. We’ll give you all the details as soon as we have them.

Announcement of contributors – Kerikeri anthology

Published on by katharinederrick2 Comments

Pavlova Press is pleased to announce the upcoming publication of Ngā Ripo Wai | Swirling Waters, an anthology of writing about Kerikeri. 

Noel Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This multi-genre collection in te reo Māori and English explores the uneven terrain of Kerikeri and its history, from the pā to the store, from the warrior to the gardener, from the chainmail coat to the black singlet to the Māori Battalion tie pin, from the orchards to the river banks, from the airport to the Old Packhouse Market and the galleries. This beautiful, undulating landscape of poems, ultra-short stories, interviews and histories comes from writers with a Kerikeri connection. 

Poet and essayist Lynn Jenner calls the anthology: “… a word painting of this place as it was and as it is now …” and asks, “Is Kerikeri a settled place? Yes and no. That tension is what makes this anthology so much fun to read and so worthwhile to think about.” 

Congratulations to the contributors whose work has been chosen to feature in the anthology, and to Dallon August, whose artwork graces the cover (which will be revealed shortly!). We would also like to acknowledge the valuable input from Andrew Blanshard and Liz Bigwood.

Alistair Tulett
Audrey Lappin
Barbara Wrigley
Bella Booth
Briar Wood
Bruce Hudson
Corralie Betts
Debbie Raphael
Diana Menefy
Elinor Davis
Fiona Kidman
Glenn Colquhoun
Heather McQuillan
Jac Jenkins
Jill Creighton
John Geraets
John O’Hare
Julia Barber
Julia Reinholt
June Pitman-Hayes
K.V. Martins
Kanjini Devi
Kathy Derrick
Kipa Munro
Lesley Marshall
Lilly Marie Hulse
Lucy Spice
Lynette Wrigley-Brown
Lynne Hill
Marino-Moana Begman
Mark Graver
Martin Porter
Mercedes Webb-Pullman
Philippa Campbell
Piet Nieuwland
Rose Wunrow
Sian Williams
Sophie McEntee
Susi Thompson
Tania Aslund
Tūauahiroa Te Kēpa
Vaughan Rapatahana
Vera Dong
Vivian Thonger
Vivienne Plumb

Writing Workshop Sunday 15 March, Kerikeri

Published on by katharinederrick2 Comments
SHIFTING GEARS: TRANSFORMING YOUR STORIES FROM GOOD TO GREAT
Sunday 15 March 1.30PM-3.30PM
Venue: Craigs Investment Partners
Hobson Ave, Kerikeri
$25PP (INCLUDES A COPY OF SCORIA: SHORT PROSE FROM THE CINDER CONE)

In November we ran a workshop to celebrate the launch of our first publication, Scoria: Short prose from the cinder cone. The workshop was so well received that we are running it again, this time in Kerikeri.

When we went into the revision process for Scoria: Short prose from the cinder cone we had no idea how significantly some of our stories would change. Many had been published before, selected by editors and judges for inclusion in various periodicals, anthologies, blogs and websites – they must be good, right? Perhaps even great? We thought so but still we examined each one closely. And we asked others to examine them closely too – firstly beta readers, then an assessor and finally a copy editor. In each round of reading new eyes asked new questions that had us thinking about our stories in new ways. What if we did cut out some characters? What if we did reduce the word count? What if we increased it? What if we completely reconsidered the form? What if we changed the tense or point of view. Can a title change make that much difference? Even our proofreader asked a question we couldn’t ignore that saw one story completely rewritten just days before the manuscript went to the designer.

Shifting gears: Transforming your stories from good to great is a celebration of our revision journey. Join us for an afternoon of story shaping on Sunday 15 March 2020 from 1.30pm to 3.30pm at Craigs Investment Partners, Hobson Ave, Kerikeri. We will demonstrate some of these techniques and show you how powerful even small changes can be. Writers of all levels who have stories in any form from raw draft to ready to submit will find value in this workshop. We will have examples for you to work on but also feel free to bring some of your own work to experiment with.

If you already have a copy of Scoria, please bring it with you. There will be an alternate free gift for you.

Workshop Registration

Testimonials

Thank you for the excellent writing workshop; I came away full of ideas and the enthusiasm to utilise what I had learned. The workshop ticked so many boxes for me: it was well organised, interactive, serious with an element of fun, and managed to engage a diverse group in terms of writing experience.  Above all, I really appreciated the generosity of spirit with which you shared a piece of your own work as you had progressed through the edits.  You are both great learning facilitators and I look forward to attending future workshops with you. VM

I thought your workshop was fantastic. You two were honest, helpful, funny, endearing. Often workshops can be a bit confronting, say, if you’re asked to write something in a short time – but not this one. It was all about learning … such a gift to get an insight into your processes. RR

Shifting Gears is thoroughly engaging and insightful.  The facilitators are highly skilled and well trained, encouraging writers to be flexible and open to new perceptions.  I came away from the workshop not only inspired but also equipped with a framework of helpful suggestions for reference.  What is the Heart?  This question has breathed new life and focus into my stories and poems.  I have been writing daily ever since. KB

I really enjoyed the writing afternoon – intimate, not too long, and a chance for everyone to participate. AJ

Wordplay

Published on by katharinederrickLeave a comment

If you are interested in wordplay, the Northland branch of NZSA is launching their NorthWrite 2020 programme on Saturday 21 March in Kerikeri at the Tūhono Kerikeri Festival Day with magnetic fridge poetry. Magnetic words (in English and Māori) will be provided so the general public can create short poems or creative sentences for others to enjoy.

To build their word bank, NZSA Northland is hosting a competition and invites all Northlanders to submit short sentences and/or poems for that purpose. Full details are available on their NorthWrite 2020 page.

This got us thinking about sentences so we went on a treasure hunt through Scoria: Short prose from the cinder cone to find sentences that were striking no matter how simple or complex. Here are a few of them:

  • “He’s lower than slime on a snail’s arse” from The good intention of angels.
  • “This is not how the story is supposed to go” from The girl in the drop-hem dress whose mother was stung by a bee (which is also one of our favourite phrases!)
  • “You join me, yawning as if you are swallowing the day” from Sunrise.
  • “Later, tucked into the curvature of his body, she hears the thrumming of his blood and imagines herself afloat on his briny swells and furrows” from Staying in bed.

We also got to thinking about words in general and went searching for 2019’s word of the year. Every dictionary has chosen a different word reflecting the social and political climate of 2019.

  • they – Mirriam-Webster. “Lookups for they increased by 313% in 2019 over the previous year.” In September, Mirriam-Webster also added a new definition to they to define its use as a non-binary singular gender pronoun.
  • existential – Dictionary.com. “Existential, as a word and theme, was prominent in discussions of topics that dominated 2019: climate change, gun violence, and democratic institutions.”
  • climate strike – Collins Dictionary. Climate strike “has seen a four-fold increase since 2013, with news stories and images such as those seen in the BBC’s Blue Planet II steeply raising public awareness of the issue.” Greta Thunberg’s pleas have also pushed this and the Oxford Dictionary word of the year to the fore.
  • climate emergency – Oxford Dictionary. “This year, heightened public awareness of climate science and the myriad implications for communities around the world has generated enormous discussion of what the UN Secretary-General has called ‘the defining issue of our time’.”
  • upcycling – Cambridge Dictionary. “We think that our fans resonated with upcycling not as a word in itself but with the positive idea behind it … upcycling is a concrete action a single human being can take to make a difference.”

The word of the year for Pavlova Press is more personal than political:

  • scoria – scoria represents for us “the small bubbles and glassy fragments of the human condition.”

We also decided we wanted, as individuals, to select our own word for the year.

  • pōhutukawa – Kathy. As part of a current fascination with Rangi Matamua’s work on Matariki, I have discovered that one of the stars in the Matariki constellation is called Pōhutukawa, the star that connects Matariki to the dead. In one of my stories, written years before I learnt of Pōhutukawa the star, a woman is lying under a pōhutukawa tree, trying to come to terms with a stillbirth. This is such a poignant coincidence that I changed the original story title from Crimson tears to Pōhutukawa to reflect the connection. Pōhutukawa is no longer just a tree but a multi-layered word that resonates strongly with me.
  • narrative – Jac. Loosely meaning an orderly account of connected events, or story, narrative is considered an important component of fiction. Many also consider it vital to contemporary poetry, although personally I like to challenge that idea. But it is my word of the year because of its relevance to the creation of identity and meaning in our lives – instead of using logic to explain and understand our experiences we construct narratives/stories to help us deal with them. This can be healthy – for example, silver-lining narratives help us deal with negative experiences. However, when we operate as if our narratives are fixed, we can distort evidence to justify those narratives rather than change them or our behaviour.

Let us know your word of the year in the comments.