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Multi-generational migrant stories are finding compelling new ways of being told in the capable, creative hands of two of the best debut novelists in Aotearoa, Jade Kake and Saraid de Silva. Both explore belonging and the legacy of intergenerational trauma while mastering a unique way of sharing the diasporic experience. Chaired by Nathan Joe. In their stunning debut novels, Saraid de Silva’s and Jade Kake’s stories have much in common – we learn about the migrant diasporic experience across three generations, they both explore what belonging looks like and they each examine the legacy of intergenerational trauma – but they have each also mastered a unique way of telling those stories.
In her bestselling debut novel, Amma (which The Spinoff declared would be ‘one of the big adult novels of the year’ while ReadingRoom declared it the ‘Novel of the Year’), de Silva tells a riveting story told by three point of view characters across each generation of a Sri Lankan family who are forever changed by one incident, which spans islands and sends ripples through time.
In Checkerboard Hill, Kake has crafted a story of belonging, dislocation, misunderstandings, identity and fractured relationships. Protagonist Ria, a wahine Māori who was born and raised in Australia but left in her teens has, since then, kept her Australian and New Zealand identities and lives separate – that is, until a family member dies and she returns to her whānau, which is swirling with family tensions and unfinished arguments, and forces her to reckon with her biggest secret.
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Nelson Arts Festival
24 Oct – 3 Nov 2024
nelsonartsfestival.nz
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū, 208 Bridge St, Nelson 7010, New Zealand,Nelson, New Zealand
Tickets
