Lau’s journey as a writer & We are Here to Write Assistant Faciliator
Someone asked me recently how I started my journey as a writer and it took me a while to answer. I have 3 answers to this and how I am feeling at the time will dictate which one I give. My joke answer is that I have a white father and I have inherited his entitlement and the belief in what I have to say being important. My work/interview answer is that I started writing out of a lack of representation of Pacific Island stories and the infuriating conviction I have that Tuvaluan and more broadly Pasifika and Indigenous stories deserve to be told. And my third answer is more personal and vulnerable, I often don’t feel like a writer. I feel like it is a necessity that has been forced on me and - even though I have pride in the stories I am able to tell - I feel untrained, unqualified and like I stumbled my way through most of my writing projects with an absolute disregard for process and deadlines. Somehow these projects get completed and in the process I am able to vent my frustrations, connect to a deeper part of myself and hopefully connect others to the things I care about. One of the few places I am able to alleviate some of that imposter syndrome, connect with my peers and sharpen my skills is in the Beyond Face We Are Here To Write workshops that are hosted by Corinne and the Beyond Face team. This term I got to collaborate with Corinne as the Workshop Assistant and it was a joy, an honour and an opportunity to get paid for something I would have done for free!
I can’t continue writing without taking a moment to shout out Corinne for the space that she creates in these workshops. The first time I ever shared my writing was in a We Are Here to Write workshop, up until this point I was theoretically a writer. It was a deeply personal piece about grieving my cousin, her ferocity and protectiveness and connecting her legacy to that of indigenous resistance thorough out the Pacific. I cried throughout most of my reading aloud and my voice shook and I couldn’t look at the other screen panels on the zoom call until it was over. The reason I was able to share this piece was because of the completely unique space that Corinne has built in these workshops; it is a space of creative exploration, kindness, community and uplift. Despite my shaky delivery the group met my piece with praise, connection, vulnerability and support and this is something I get to witness everytime someone shares their writing in sessions.
This term we explored a broad range of themes in sessions from using poetry as a storytelling device, political theatre, sharing sessions, how to pitch and wellbeing as a writer. Assisting on these workshops I got to attend all sessions and benefitted from seeing how the workshops were shaped, contributing my own ideas and allocating time to developing my craft 3 times a month. In the sessions people expressed how their creative horizons were broadened, how they learnt about shows they hadn’t heard of, how they felt assured and confident after sharing their work, developing a greater understanding of how to get their work made, learning from peers as well as industry professionals and how to look after themselves in a difficult arts landscape. The We Are Here to Write community is filled with so much talent and compassion and the experience of sharing our MOJs (Moments of Joy) each week will stay with me, getting to see peoples’ seedlings of ideas sprout and grow and blossom into fully realised projects will stay with me and the feedback and support for people sharing will always highlight the importance of community, sharing regularly and sharing at any stage. It’s been a blessing to work for Beyond Face in this way and I would encourage any writers considering the assistant facilitator role to take it on. It’s helped me to feel more confident in my abilities as a writer and connected me to other global majority writers who I carry so much admiration for. My journey to being a writer has been guided in great part by Beyond Face and We Are Here to Write, so anyone feeling unsure of their abilities should sign up and experience the sessions first hand.
