The theme of being listened to is hugely important in my life. So often I’m up against power but I feel strength in my own story. My big dream is to feel listened to. For my words to have a positive effect on those who are listening. 

 

I definitely feel a little bit of a ‘fuck you’ to all the men in sneakers in boardrooms who didn’t listen to me. I’m going to forge my own path and it’s going to be better. My grandmother said I was born with a fighting spirit. 

 

I grew up in one of the most remote farms in New Zealand so loneliness and isolation are very familiar to me. I had been through a lifetime of challenges before I was even a proper adult. That farm is fraught with emotions. I see it as a strength and a shadow. My efforts to make sense of the world manifested itself into my creative expression.

 

My history is the backbone of my poetry. I’ve been writing it my whole life. I come from a long lineage of women who never got their full light in the world because of the era they lived in. I know I have to do more for these women because they didn’t get to.

 

There is a transcendent experience that comes from being understood, being listened to and feeling less alone. I just need to feel like me.

 

I would rather be less successful and feel less alone than be really successful and not have this amazing pocket of friends that I’ve been lucky to collect.