Our side of the fence : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Creative Writing (MCW), Massey University

Abstract

To write, for me at least, has been a calling. I set out to communicate a story that creates empathy, understanding, reflects cultural diversity, and demonstrates Indigenous stigmatisation. Not as a way to be controversial, or political, or to create an intensified sense of pity for the underdog that in this case is a Maori family; but instead to write about two absolutely ordinary families, nothing extraordinary, yet both entirely human. To do this, I chose to pen a play that uses an episodic structure and polyvocal writing techniques. Through these methods, in which there is no single protagonist facing a single antagonist - no hero or villain, no right or wrong - but a circle of episodes that gradually enlarge our view, I hoped to tell a story of diverse human beings, each facing their challenges. It is in our humanness that differences are celebrated.--Te Po