The Interregnum - Rethinking New Zealand
?The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear? ? Antonio Gramsci
Is New Zealand?s political settlement beginning to fray? And does this mean we?re entering the interregnum, that ambiguous moment between society-wide discontent and political change? In BWB?s latest book of essays, edited by Morgan Godfery, ten of New Zealand?s sharpest emerging thinkers gather to debate the ?morbid symptoms? of the current moment, from precarious work to climate change, and to discuss what shape change might take, from ?the politics of love? to postcapitalism.
The Interregnum interrogates the future from the perspective of the generation who will shape it.
Editor
Morgan Godfery is a writer and trade unionist based in Wellington. He is an online columnist for Overland Literary Journal in Australia and a regular book reviewer for Fairfax. His writing regularly appears in the Guardian and the Herald. He also appears on radio and television as a political commentator and has authored several academic chapters and lectured extensively on Maori politics. He graduated in law from Victoria University in 2015.
Contributors
Andrew Dean is an Ashburton local based in the United Kingdom. In 2012 he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and is currently studying towards a doctorate in English literature at the University of Oxford. He is also the author of Ruth, Roger and Me, the acclaimed BWB Text.
Max Harris is an Examination Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. He has worked as a clerk to Chief Justice Elias in the Supreme Court and his writing has been published in The New Statesman, openDemocracy, The Huffington Post, and The Pantograph Punch. He's currently working on a book about the future of progressive politics and policy in New Zealand.
Lamia Imam is a Christchurch-born communications consultant based in Austin, Texas. She recently graduated with a Masters in Public Administration from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. She has presented at the Congressional Research Service in Washington D.C. on Congressional committees' use of social media and previously worked in Wellington for the Labour Leader?s Office and at the Office of Treaty Settlements. She blogs on New Zealand politics at CornerPolitics.com and tweets under the handle @LI_Politico.
Chloe King is a writer and activist based currently based in Auckland. Chloe has been involved in movements for social change and Indigenous rights since she was 14. She holds a post graduate diploma in Visual Arts and Art and Design and is the former editor of Debate, the Auckland University of Technology student magazine.
Daniel Kleinsman is a lawyer and activist currently based in the Philippines. He is a dual citizen of New Zealand and the Netherlands. After graduating in law at Victoria University of Wellington in 2014 he worked as an adviser at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and is currently training as a Catholic priest.
Edward Miller is a Kuala Lumpur-based campaign advisor for the Building and Wood Workers' International, a global trade union federation. Edward has been widely published, including Interest.co.nz and the Pantograph Punch, and until late-2015 organised national opposition against the TPPA. He holds undergraduate degrees in law and philosophy and a postgraduate degree in law from the University of Auckland.
Courtney Sina Meredith is a poet, playwright, fiction writer and musician of Samoan, Mangaian and Irish descent. She holds a degree in English and Political Studies from the University of Auckland, where she also co-edited Spectrum 5. She is a former writer-in-residence at the Bleibtreu Berlin and her first book of poetry, Brown Girls in Bright Red Lipstick, was published in 2012.
Carrie Stoddart-Smith is an Auckland-Wellington commuting senior policy analyst of Ng?ti Tautahi, Ng?ti R?hia and Ng?puhi descent. She holds a BA and LLB from Auckland University and an LLM in International Law and Politics with First Class Honours from the University of Canterbury. She has written extensively on Maori politics.
Wilbur Townsend is a writer and economist based in Wellington. He is a former feature writer for Salient, the Victoria University student magazine, and is the winner of the Sir Frank Holmes Prize. In 2015 he graduated with a BA in Economics and Philosophy and a BSc in Mathematics, in 2016 he will complete an MCom in Economics.
Holly Walker is a writer, children's advocate, and former Green MP. In 2005, while at the University of Otago, Holly edited the student magazine Critic Te Arohi. After graduating with a BA(hons) in Politics and English she won a Rhodes Scholarship and graduated from the University of Oxford with a Masters in Development Studies. Holly publishes essays and reviews of women writers and co-hosts a parenting podcast.
BWB Texts are short books on big subjects by great New Zealand writers. Commissioned as short digital-first works, BWB Texts unlock diverse stories, insights and analysis from the best of our past, present and future New Zealand writing.