Pacific Highways: A Spotlight on New Zealand

Contemporary New Zealand is undergoing a period of profound change. Migration from across the Asia Pacific region is reshaping the country, with Auckland now said to be the most multicultural city in Australasia.
To celebrate this Kiwi renaissance, author Lloyd Jones, whose Commonwealth Prize-winning novel Mister Pip graced the big screen last year, has co-edited Pacific Highways, the latest edition of the Griffith REVIEW.
What are the points of overlap between the two countries, and with New Zealand forming a whole new demographic identity, what does the future hold for our neighbours?
Contributor Alison Wong, whose first novel, As the Earth Turns Silver, won the 2010 New Zealand Post Book Award for Fiction, and Anton Blank, author and Maori child rights activist, join Lloyd on this panel to explore the exciting new direction for New Zealand culture.
Chaired by Julianne Schultz, editor of Griffith REVIEW.
Featuring
Featuring

Anton Blank (Ngati Porou/Ngati Kahungunu) is a Maori editor and writer who lives in Auckland. He is interested in indigenous cultural identities, the politics of gender and sexuality – and how these issues play out for indigenous peoples in contemporary settings. Anton argues that the range of Mao... Read more

Lloyd Jones was born in New Zealand in 1955. His best-known novel is Mister Pip, which won the 2007 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the 2008 Kiriyama Prize Fiction Category, the 2008 Montana Award for Readers Choice, the Montana Fiction Award and the Montana Medal for Fiction or Poetry. Mister Pi... Read more

Professor Emeritus Julianne Schultz AM FAHA is the Chair of The Conversation. She was the publisher and founding editor of Griffith Review, and is Professor Emeritus of Media and Culture at Griffith’s Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, and a member of the board of the Sydney Wr... Read more

Alison Wong is a New Zealander based in Geelong. Her novel, As the Earth Turns Silver, won the 2010 New Zealand Post Book Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the 2010 Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Award. Her poetry collection, Cup, was shortlisted for the Best First Book for Poetry at... Read more
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