Solstice Greetings from the Far South!

… from Ōtepoti-Dunedin, where for two weeks  we’re  housesitting for  friends, Fiona and Glenn Erik, former neighbours at Earthsong. It’s wear-merino weather here still, cold even on the sunny days… We’ve slipped easily into our gracious 1920s red brick homesit high on the hills of Ōpoho in North Dunedin, and are enjoying tending to gardens and […]

New Books by Women in Aotearoa

  We’ve had precious time in the evenings to read three new New Zealand books. We have really enjoyed two new novels written by NZ lesbians we know, set firmly in Aotearoa, and with some clear political implications. It’s so lovely for us as lesbians to read about ourselves and our worlds for a change! […]

Local Body Elections

We are especially delighted that our friend  Lyn Riesterer , of Whakatohea  descent, became Mayor of the Opotiki District Council – she is the first gay Maori woman Mayor in Aotearoa.  Lyn has been on the Opotiki District Council for two terms, and was Deputy Mayor in her  second term.  Her background is in education […]

Mulame: Lema Shamamba’s Exhibition

    We went to the opening of  Mulame in Objectspace Gallery in Rose Road, Ponsonby.  The exhibition, curated by Ane Tonga, comprises  a series of framed, embroidered  panels by our friend Lema Shamamba, depicting aspects of life in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and it is powerfully political.  Since she came to Aotearoa ten […]

Town and Around

  Half of the Sky This stand-out Massive Theatre production, written by Lennie James and produced by Sam Scott, stars: Kura Forrester, Rose Henare Ashby, Grace Palmer,  Max Palamo & Pat Tafa It is on at Q Theatre in Auckland until Saturday 26 October …catch it if you can before it finishes! Three sisters, their […]

A Fearful Future…?

Canadian writer Margaret Atwood has just published The Testaments, the sequel to her 1985 classic The Handmaid’s Tale, to great acclaim- including a nomination for the Booker Prize before it even arrived in the shops!  We went to the Bridgeway in Northcote to see  the English National Theatre film of an interview with Margaret Atwood […]

Spring Round About…

Alcohol and Drug Court supporters’ dinner We’ve heard about the great work of Auckland and West Auckland Alcohol and Other Drug Courts for a while now.  But Justice Department money doesn’t cover all the costs of court clients…such as rental deposits, transport costs  for  appointments with potential employers or Work and Income, repairs for damaged […]

Grieving

In the last two weeks, two of my special friends and colleagues from Auckland Girls’ Grammar School have died.  Both joined the staff of AGGS in 1966, and were in senior positions with me during 1978-88. Elaine Craig was my deputy principal for ten years, and stood in for me as principal four times when […]