ReadswithRosa Podcast

||  I’m Still Here  || This week on Episode 118 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down to talanoa with Siose Solo, a father, wordsmith, artist, Youth Worker and entrepreneur. Born and raised on the North Shore of Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland), Aotearoa (New Zealand), he is proud of his Tongan and Maori ancestry. When he’s not writing or making music, you can find him in community spaces such as Te...

||  RUIN and other Stories  || Talofa lava and kia ora e te whanau. This week on Episode 117 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I catch up for a kōrero with Taranaki-based writer (Kai Tahu), Emma Hislop. At the time of our interview, she was joining us from a 4 week writing residency in Australia, at The National Writer’s House in Varuna which sits on Gundungurra and Darug whenua.  In March this year,...

|| Enrich Through Education || This week on Episode 116 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down for a kōrero with fellow Pasifika Educator, Tui Beach. He is of Cook Island-Māori descent, speaks 4 languages, and he joins the show to share his journey from Aotearoa NZ, to the Land of the Rising Sun. He currently works as a Consulting Head Teacher for Interac, Japan’s largest private provider of pro...

||  The Peregrine Falcon's Cry || Ni Sa Bula Vinaka! Happy Fijian Language Week! 🇫🇯🇫🇯🇫🇯🇫🇯 This week on Episode 115 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down and talanoa with iTaukei Poet, IB Educator, and avid traveller, Kelera Tuvou-Ganivatu, who lives in Estonia. She is a global citizen and daughter of the Pacific, a lover of fiction + non-fiction, and she writes short stories and poems in he...

||  The Digital Village  || This week on Episode 114 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast I catch up for a talanoa with Lauren To’omalatai, a screenwriter, mixed-media artist and tama’ita’i Samoa who lives in Utah, USA.  As a screenwriter, Lauren’s stories focus mostly on women and womanhood with a special interest in horror, fantasy and science fiction elements, and she’s written and produced Public Serv...

||  Creating a Legacy || This week on Episode 113 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down and talanoa with a proud Sāmoan storyteller, born in Aotearoa New Zealand and now based in Western Sydney. Gabriel Faatau’uu-Satiu is the founder and Creative Director of Satiu Studios, one of few Pasifika-led organisations in Australia that is dedicated to Pasifika stories - screen, stage, online and print....

||  Kris In The Classroom || This week on Episode 112 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down for a chat with fellow Educator - Kris Smith-Wright, who was Fort Worth Independent Schools District, Elementary School Teacher of the Year in 2021. Kris shares his journey from graduate student to classroom teacher, wearing multiple hats in the learning environment, to his current role as a Data Analyst...

||  a - wake - (e)nd || This week on Episode 111 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down for a talanoa with Audrey Brown-Pereira, an acclaimed and innovative poet who’s renown for her wordplay. She has contributed to a number of anthologies and released three poetry books: ‘𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚃𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚎: 𝙺𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚒𝚍𝚘𝚜𝚔𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙺𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜’ 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊 𝚅𝚊𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚎 (2002),  ‘𝙿𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝙱𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝙸(𝚜)𝙻𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜’ (2014) and her l...

||  Difference is the blessing.  || This week on Episode 110 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down with Artist, Paralympian, Mentor and a hardcore fan of the NZ Warriors, Benza Tuimaseve aka The Rugcutter.  We chat about a lot of things, from music to writing, healthy living and the journey to Tokyo Olympics 2020, the stigma of living with a disability and how we can all be better advocates, th...

|| Pacific Islanders Abroad in Japan || || Pacific Islanders Abroad in Japan || This week on the #ReadswithRosaPodcast I sit down for a chat with Anna Siafolau who is living and working in Japan an ALT on the Jet Programme. She shares her story and gives us some insight into her experiences thus far as a young adult learning how to navigate this big country and find her place in the world. Anna is...

|| The Forever Stories || This week on Episode 108 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast I sit down for a talanoa with Artist and Graphic Designer, Linda Va’aelua. Her work looks closely at her Samoan and Scottish lineage, as well as her position as a Tagata Moana artist within the Samoan diaspora in Aotearoa. Linda has more than 20 years of experience as a graphic designer, was the first Pasifika art dire...

|| Always Italicise: How To Write While Colonised || This week on Episode 107 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I catch up for a kōrero with Dr Alice Te Punga Somerville. She is a mother, an award winning poet, Māori Scholar and an irredentist. We discuss her award winning book - 𝙰𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝙸𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚎: 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍, publishing + literary spaces, her current mahi at the University of British...

||  Living as a Pacific Islander is Advocacy Work. || Talofa lava 🌺. This week on Episode 106 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I catch up with Aynsley Broom, the owner, writer and creator of @sippingkoko. She is a well known Pasifika blogger, who uses her social media platforms to advocate, empower, challenge and inform folx on various Pasifika hot topics.  It’s always cool to share space and learn...

||  An Artist of Upu / Words  || This week on Episode 105 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down to talanoa with Grace Iwashita-Taylor. She is a mother, a writer and creative. She is also co-director of @flyingfetu, an organization that is committed to creating spaces to unapologetically be a writer, whilst building community and fostering pathways for upu to thrive. Grace is an award-winning po...

||  Other Pathways to Success  || This week on Episode 104 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down for a chat with  Mani Malaeulu, the Founder and Owner of Empowerment Training, and one half of the power couple & co-authors behind the book - 'Tama Samoa'.  He take's us through his personal and professional development journey, the story of Empowerment Training, working with school...

|| Being true to who we are as people. || This week on Episode 103 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down for a chat with Rev Martin and Toreka Mariota from EFKS Magele i Sisifo. We chat about the work of PASG (Pasifika Autism Support Group), their family’s contribution to the new book ‘vĀsifika: Our Autism Journeys’, and how they are utilizing social media to share their son Joziah’s Autism jou...

|| Supporting Indigenous Ways of Cultivation. || This week on Episode 102 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I catch up with Phoebe (Fipe) Preuss. She is a multidisciplinary artist, an eco-preneur and marine/ environmental activist, and the Owner and Director of Living Koko - a ‘zero-waste’ cacao / koko / chocolate manufacturing business that was founded on the desire to reconnect with and support Paci...

|| A hobby that keeps on giving. || This week on Episode 101 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down for a chat with Julia Tachibana. She is a middle school educator, an advocate for mental health and suicide prevention, and an Amigurumi Artist who crocheted a human-sized Totoro, the adorable furry creature from the Studio Ghibli film: My Neighbor Totoro. Tune in to hear / see how Julia is spread...

|| What contribution can I make in this moment? || In 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟏𝟎𝟎 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast , I sit down for a chat with Alicia D Williams. As an Author, she has won awards and honors for her books:  Genesis Begins Again (novel), Shirley Chisholm Dared: The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress (picture book), Jump At The Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neal Hursto...

||  The Pacific Story at the U.N. || This week on Episode 99 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down for a talanoa with Gemma Nelson, a technical advisor on ocean related processes at the United Nations for Pacific Missions in New York, and a research fellow for Nippon Foundation - University of Edinburgh’s Ocean Voices Program. There’s so much that I didn’t know about the extent of the work and...

||  How to Loiter in A Turf War. || This week on Episode 98 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down for a talanoa with Coco Solid (@alofanui).  Coco is a versatile and innovative multidisciplinary artist of Maori (Ngapuhi)/Samoan descent who hails from Tamaki Makaurau in Aotearoa. She is the author of How to Loiter in A Turf War, a Fulbright scholar, NZ Art Laureate, and the creator of the cult M...

||  Transforming Yarn and Stitches into Stories. || This week in Episode 97 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I catch up with the founder and owner of Aroha Knits, Francoise Danoy. She is a textile fiber artist, a creative business coach, and a wahine toa living in the diaspora who strives to empower folx through her artistry. She draws inspiration from a rich tapestry of life experiences that help tr...

|| Samoans Are Everywhere. || In Episode 96 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down to talanoa with Major Mabel Hudspeth. She shares memories of growing up in Samoa and the story of how she ended up in the United States Air Force. We chat about longevity in regards to her military career and the importance of job satisfaction, crossing paths with fellow Samoans through work, traveling and experie...

||  Language Heals. || This week on Episode 95 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast I sit down for a chat with Carolann Duro. She is a Californian Indian of Maara’yam & Kumeyaay descent, and is passionate about reading, books and the power of literature. She is a Linguist and an advocate for language revitalization, especially in her own community. As a digital creator Carolann utilizes her socia...

||  An Explicit Call to Arms || This week on Episode 94 of the #ReadswithRosaPodcast, I sit down for a talanoa with YA Fiction-Fantasy Author, Nafiza Azad. Born in Lautoka, Fiji, her family moved to Canada in her late teens, but she is an island girl through and through. Tune in for more on author life, reflections, and a whole lot of islander laughter. Follow Nafiza: •   Instagram:...