This is my first blog experience and its going to be a fa’afetai blog. Fa’afetai is the Samoan word for thanks and in the Samoan way of doing things it’s often appropriate to start with thanks. I hope it doesn’t sound Oscar speechish but for me this feels like the right way to start things.
 
Fa’afetai to God for giving me a writing talent and the compulsion to use it. I use the word compulsion purposefully, because I can’t think of a better word to describe that feeling that forces one to sit at the computer (on a rare sunny Wellington day) or alternatively to sit freezing at said computer (on a typical cold Wellington night). Yeah, it’s definitely compulsion. Obsession is close, but compulsion sounds less crazy like.     

Fa’afetai to my family and friends especially Tamā and Tinā (mum and dad) who taught me to love books and learning. Fa’afetai to my husband Kiki – my biggest supporter – for reminding me to ‘keep it real’ in my writing. For example when I agonised over including a certain swear word in my Six Pack story ‘’88’. I included it in the end but as he knows I fretted about it for ages! See aforementioned compulsion.     

Fa’afetai to the NZ Book Month team for this awesome opportunity. Six Pack is a cool idea. Even the name is cool. Funny that Six Pack can mean both a tight set of abdominal muscles and half a dozen cold ones. To think of the many six packs that have been lost as a result of too many six packs.  

What I love about Six Pack (the competition) is that it’s so accessible. I hardly ever enter writing competitions but Six Pack has got a real Kiwi ‘give it a go’ appeal. When the call for Six Pack Four entries opens I urge you to give it a go. I’m glad I gave it a go that’s for sure.     
 
Likewise, Six Pack (the publication) is accessible too. It’s only six bucks and is sold everywhere. I love the many diverse kiwi voices in it and I’m stoked that a Pacific New Zealand story has joined the Six Pack whanau. For me it’s an acknowledgment that Pacific New Zealand stories are well and truly part of New Zealand’s cultural and literary identity. That’s awesome.

Fa’afetai to the many fantastic New Zealand and Pacific writers who have inspired me.

Fa’afetai to my talented writers group The Dusky Maidens for support, laughs and chit chats.  

Finally fa’afetai to an unsung hero in my story ‘’88’ – Otara. Although I live in Wellington now, Otara’s my home ‘village’. Looking back now, growing up in Otara has given me so much rich material for stories. I came across people with troubles sure, but there was also so much beauty, resilience, potential and hope – something I tried to convey in ‘’88’. Even now you just have to visit an Otara school or church and see the immense talent and creativity of the kids there.

Today the name Otara with its state-house-blue-collar-Polynesian-dawn-raided roots has become synonymous with youth gangs and crime. Of course there are social issues in Otara but they aren’t unique to Otara. Don’t judge a book by its cover I say.

If you’ve never ventured to Otara before, I urge you to check out the Otara fleamarket on a Saturday morning. Cheap fresh fruit and veg and cheap fresh t-shirts (Check out PopoHardware, Phat Islanders and Dawn Raid). Visit the local art gallery – the Fresh Gallery Otara or the Otara Music and Arts Centre. Check out the Otara Public Library. Fa’afetai to the fantastic librarians there – Catherine, Iva, Joan and the rest of the Otara library team. Check out Otara musical talents Cydel or emerging Otara artists like Genevieve Leitu Pini or the Dziah Dance Crew. I could go on and on. I really could.

Paea Wolfgramm, a fellow Otarian, wrote in one of his fantastic Spasifik magazine columns that part of Otara’s issues stem from the youth of Otara lacking civic pride. I like to think that civic pride is growing. We can help cultivate that civic pride too by celebrating the innovative unique arts and talent that Otara has to share.  

As for me, you can probably tell I’m proud to come from Otara. Real proud.

Fa’afetai.