Lyndy McIntyre joins Writing Labour Histories panel at Verb Readers and Writers Festival

Lyndy McIntyre will be on the Writing Labour Histories panel at the Verb Readers and Writers Festival. Photo / Mark Coote

A Paekākāriki author will be one of the guests at the upcoming Verb Readers and Writers Festival, which is to be held in Wellington over November 7-10.

Lyndy McIntyre said it’s exciting to be a part of the event, and it’s a great opportunity for people in the Wellington region to hear from authors across a wide range of topics.

McIntyre, who wrote Power to Win, will be one of three authors on the Writing Labour Histories panel. The other authors will be Jared Davidson and Cybele Locke.

She said Power to Win is the story of the living wage movement in New Zealand, and she’s looking forward to discussing common themes in her and her co-panelists’ books.

“The panel will be sort of discussing what’s common about three labour histories, but they’re all coming from a very different place.”

McIntyre said she has always been very passionate about the living wage movement, and still is.

“I’ve been very actively involved in the living wage movement since its inception in 2012 in Aotearoa.”

She said her book is a labour history, but “it’s a labour history that I’ve been very much part of”, while the other two books take a different approach.

“So, our conversation will be about how you pull together the history of workers in Aotearoa. There’s a whole lot of different ways to do that, and our three books showcase three different ways.”

She said the event is so important because books are important.

“They’re certainly important in my life.”

The festival is an opportunity to put aside a few days and focus on a whole range of books, she said.

“It’s part of our cultural life, and in our vibrant region, where people care about the arts and literature, it is so much a part of that. This is celebrating writing and reading and that’s really great, but also it brings people out ... to participate.”

The Details:

What: Writing Labour Histories panel

When: November 10, 12pm

Where: Hannah Playhouse, 12 Cambridge Terrace, Wellington

Tickets: $19 and available at events.humanitix.com/labour-histories

Power to Win: McIntyre’s book is available from www.otago.ac.nz