17
November 2016 - Victoria University of Wellington
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The first Poet Laureate of the Navajo
Nation in the United States will be giving free public readings in Wellington
and Auckland when she visits New Zealand for Victoria University of
Wellington’s inaugural Creativity Week.
The week, from
21 – 25 November, features events and performances showcasing and celebrating
the University’s role as a national and international hub of smart imagination
and innovation.
It is part
of Victoria’s commitment to ‘Cultivating creative capital’—one of its areas of
academic emphasis.
During Creativity Week, Professor Emerita Luci
Tapahonso (pictured), who was named the first Poet Laureate of the Navajo
Nation in 2013, will be Victoria’s inaugural Wai-te-ata Press
Creator-in-Residence,
hosted by Associate Professor Sydney Shep, Reader in Book History and Printer
at the Press.
She will be giving a free public reading (Te Marae, Te
Papa, 24 November, 1pm), as well as visiting Arohata Women’s Prison with
International Institute of Modern Letters creative writing teacher Dr Pip Adam
and joining an interdisciplinary panel of speakers to discuss how verbal,
visual and legal languages can safeguard and champion indigeneity (including
Māori and Pasifika).
Professor Tapahonso will also give a free public reading
at Auckland Central Library Whare (29 November, 5.30pm).
Her visit is partnered by the Embassy of the United
States of America.
Other Creativity Week events featuring writers include
a free keynote public
lecture on Being Creative by
Victoria’s inaugural Ambassador of Creativity, Professor David Gauntlett,
author of Making is Connecting: The Social Meaning of Creativity, from DIY and
Knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0 (Lecture Theatre 1, Law School, Government Buildings,
Lambton Quay, 22 November, 6pm).
Professor
Gauntlett has collaborated for a decade with LEGO on innovation in creativity,
play and learning, including development of the LEGO Serious Play process
for businesses and other organisations.
He is author of the essay The LEGO System as a tool for thinking, creativity, and changing the
world, where he says “LEGO connects with some valuable social
movements—such as maker culture and open knowledge sharing—and can help to
build a mindset which is creative, optimistic, and willing to try out new
things”.
There will
be a free series of Creativity Week Lunchtime
Panel Conversations for the public in the Hub, level 2, Kelburn campus,
featuring staff and other artists associated with the University:
Creativity as Theory in Practice, with Dr Anna Smaill (author of the
Man Booker Prize-longlisted and World Fantasy Award for Best Novel winner The Chimes), jazz improviser Mark Donlon
and filmmaker and film scholar Dr Miriam Ross (22 November, 12.30pm).
Creativity as Digital Communication, with composer Professor John
Psathas, computer scientist Professor Neil Dodgson and media artist and
activist Walter Langelaar (23 November, 12.30pm).
Creativity as Innovation, with Composer-in-Residence Alison
Isadora, Writer-in-Residence novelist and poet Anne Kennedy and Stout Memorial
Fellow writer, curator and visual artist Gregory O’Brien (24
November, 12.30pm).
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