TACKLING HATE: FACING UP TO FEAR & LOATHING IN AOTEAROA

Tusiata Avia is a poet, performer and children’s book writer. Known for her dynamic performance style, two of her poetry collections, Wild Dogs Under My Skirt and The Savage Coloniser, have been adapted into theatrical shows. Tusiata has held several residencies including the Fulbright Pacific Writer’s Fellowship at University of Hawaii, and the Ursula Bethel Writer in Residence at University of Canterbury. She was the 2013 recipient of the Janet Frame Literary Trust Award. Her 2017 collection, Fale Aitu (Victoria University Press, 2016) was longlisted for the 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and her latest collection, The Savage Coloniser, was the winner of the 2021 Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry at the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Jennifer Shields (she/her) is an artist, writer, photographer, and community advocate from Ōtautahi. She is currently the interim Director of Qtopia and Vice-President of the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa, and has a particular interest in healthcare and gender-affirming care. In her role at Qtopia, she’s regularly involved in responding to disinformation and hatred, especially over the last 18 months. Jennifer has been published on The Spinoff.

Byron C Clark is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s foremost experts on the far-right and alt-right extremism. His book Fear: New Zealand’s Hostile Underworld of Extremists (HarperCollins) was published in 2023. Having played an instrumental role in exposing the networks of white supremacy in Aotearoa, he can discuss strategies for resisting the fascist forces. Byron is also an independent video essayist, disinformation researcher and commentator. He lives in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Madeleine Chapman is a New Zealand writer of Sāmoan, Chinese and Tuvaluan descent. She is the current editor of The Spinoff and a former senior editor at North & South magazine. She is also the author of Jacinda Ardern: A new kind of leader (Blackinc Books) and co-author of Steven Adams’ bestselling autobiography My Life, My Fight (Penguin Random House NZ). Chapman was named the 2018 Young Business Journalist of the Year and the 2019 Humour Opinion Writer of the Year.