History Write Now: South Auckland Writers at the Papakura Museum

By James George

Ever wondered about the history of objects in a museum? If they could talk, what tales could they tell?

South Auckland writers were invited into the Papakura Museum to see if they could find out. These stories and poems of love, loss, triumph, new beginnings and changing times include actual events and memories as well as fiction. All are inspired by real taonga (treasures) in the museum.

Aotearoa New Zealand has been peopled by waves of migrants over the land's last millennium. Recurring themes in History Write Now are the fears, hopes and dreams of all migrants - some told from the perspective of the few but precious possessions brought with them. Papakura and South Auckland form the backdrop but not always - these 'flights of fancy' have sometimes taken off to land elsewhere.

The 18 writers in this publication, many of whom are new to writing, were selected from the 2015 History Write Now project. Their stories and poems were edited by author James George, who was the project's writing coach and mentor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Manukau Counties Writers Fund
• Release date: Jul 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9780473329150

Book preview

Foreword and Acknowledgements

Storytelling existed long before writing.

Good stories seep into our hearts as well as our minds. Whether told by the 'oral historian' of a tribe in ancient times, in cave drawings or dance or music, or via digital blogs, humans use stories to connect with their past and as a way of retaining their traditions and culture.

For the same reasons, museums also tell stories with their collections of artefacts and taonga (treasures). While museums strive for historical accuracy, I've sometimes wondered what sorts of adventures these objects might have had that we don't know about. As yet, we haven't invented an artefact-whispering machine but we have writers with imaginations and that seemed like a great place to start.

I talked over these ideas with Terry Carson (fellow writer and President of the Papakura District Historical Society) and Kay Thomas (Manager of the Papakura Museum), and the History Write Now Project was born.

Author James George came on board as the project's writing coach and mentor and funding was sourced from the Manukau Counties Writers Fund and Auckland Council Creative Communities Scheme.

South Auckland writers were then invited into the Papakura Museum to fossick behind the scenes and in the archives to choose an artifact/taonga to write about. Many attended one of two workshops with James so he could help them to hone their craft, to consider their historical object in a fresh way and to imagine a new and wonderful tale about it.

When the submissions rolled in for the History Write Now book, I was struck by the powerful and recurring theme of migration. Aotearoa/New Zealand is a land of migrants. All who live here have heritage and culture that can be traced back to 'somewhere else', whether they arrived yesterday or 900 years ago. Half of the stories and poems included in this book are about the fears, hopes or dreams of most migrants. Some are told as if by a child, others from the view of an adult, and still others from the perspective of one of the few precious possessions that came with them.

Other pieces are based on memories of real life events or people. However, all of the pieces in this book, whether fiction, creative non-fiction or poetry, prove again that we use storytelling as a way to connect with our past and that we are living examples of history right now.

Huge thanks and appreciation to James George, dedicated writing mentor and editor of this book. James' teaching and support has been inspirational and his ability to build confidence in the writers involved in this project has been remarkable.

I would also like to particularly thank the following for their skills, patience, enthusiasm and unwavering support: Terry Carson, Kay Thomas and the whole team from Papakura Museum, Ken Watkin for photographing the artefacts, the staff from The Sir Edmund Hillary Library, the South Auckland Writers Group, and Lis Sowerbutts and Kris Lockett (from DIY Publishing). Without these people and funding from Auckland Council Creative Communities Scheme and