Earlier this year, we tracked down writers who had their first publication with Write On Magazine and we buddied them with current students.
Ray Shipley (they/them) is an ÅŒtautahi-based comedian, writer, marriage celebrant, and bookseller. Ray is a regular fixture at comedy and poetry shows across the city, and a much-loved MC - hosting everything from queer balls to platter-making competitions to political debates. We have loved having Ray back at Write On as a guest tutor.
"The Write On launch events were so signifIcant to me as a young person because they were some of the fIrst times I saw and appreciated how different the words we put down on paper can be when they’re read aloud." Ray
Es, aged 13, attends Saturday Classes at Write On School for Young Writers. They have been published many times in Write On magazine.
Survival: March Fly was inspired by Ray's piece, Survival: Sperm Whale which was first published in Write On in 2002.
Survival: March Fly
by Es
Float through humid air
wings in check
glide, swoop, flick
eyes in check, thousands of them,
look, focus, see.
Legs out, like helicopter skids
landing pad, a lily pad
and the plop like a marimba
as the creature lands gracefully.
And the fly forgets
resting in the rays of sweet stupidity.
Water ripples
a quiver, under foot of fly
scares the little guy.
A disturbance,
emergency takeoff
frantic flapping,
But slimy spear locates, reaches, grabs;
the tongue of frog.
Turbulence!
the fly’s mind cries.
It tries to synthesize
meaning in one megabyte memory
It’s pleading
buzz, a broken radio signal.
As the tongue retracts,
it rips just a leg back
leaving him free.
And the fly forgets.
You can read Survival: Sperm Whale by Ray and an interview between Es and Ray here:
Thank you to Plains FM for support with the recording of the voices and to Copyright Licensing NZ for a funding grant that allowed us to archive 30 years of magazines and to develop this project.
The funding from Copyright Licensing NZ also went towards the redesign of our print magazine Write On 60: Memories and Milestones. It is a beautiful new design for our anthology. Copies are still available to order HERE
(c) Write On 2023