Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Tina Makereti, author of This Compulsion In Us.

The book I wish I’d written

This changes depending on what I’m reading at the time, if it’s good! Like now I’m reading Gliff by Ali Smith, and I wish I could write something like that. It’s set sometime in the near future, and somehow post-apocalyptic, which also seems to be post-this-exact-moment, and tightly narrated so that you are inside this paranoid, limited world of a young person living in a high control society. But there’s also a lot of beauty, particularly around words. 

Everyone should read

Everyone should read whatever they want because all that matters is that they read. I’m avoiding naming a single book because I can’t see how it’s possible to name a single book. I saw someone else online saying this exact thing recently and even though it might seem glib and obvious, it’s still profound. How about not judging what anyone reads? How about reading whatever gives you joy, or calm, or relaxation, or fuel?

The book I want to be buried with

No don’t bury books! Someone else can read them when I’m gone!

The first book I remember reading by myself

I don’t remember a specific book but I was obsessed with fairy tales, and Cinderella was my favourite for ages. Those stories are just so archetypal — I don’t think anything can replace them, alongside folktales, legends, mythological stories, creation stories. I’m still fuelled quite strongly by those kinds of stories and I still enjoy reading or watching versions of them.

Dystopia or utopia

The only utopian works I think I’ve read or watched tended to be dystopia in disguise. I find it hard to imagine a story that is truly utopian. And dystopia comes so naturally. Dystopia is kind of the air we breathe, quite literally. Which makes me very curious about utopia…

The book that made me laugh

Michelle Duff’s Surplus Women. It’s laugh out loud funny, and that’s not easy to pull off, especially when the subject matter can be confronting. The laughs come from Michelle’s sensibility behind the stories, and also her willingness to just say the thing. Funny writers seem so unafraid.

Encounter with an author

Going to the Calabash Festival in Jamaica was wild — like swimming in a sea of absolutely legendary writers. I had encounters with a many incredible writers that week. A few embarrassing encounters too.

Marlon James was there having freshly won the Booker, and I was reading The Book of Night Women, which is an extremely moving book, so I was having a massive fangirl moment. Marlon was quite distant though, which wasn’t surprising. I don’t think it can be easy to deal with all the attention that comes from winning the Booker.

Eleanor Catton was there too and she seemed more relaxed than the year before when she had won! But the most impressive moment might have been at the end of the festival, when there was a big meal and drinks put on for us. I met poet Raymond Antrobus in line for kai, before he had won so many prizes, and later emailed him to ask if I could use his surname for a character in the book I was writing. I don’t know what I was thinking.

After I filled my plate I found a seat at a big table, full of friendly faces. A very distinguished looking gentleman came to sit across the other side. He seemed to know everyone else at the table, but when he clocked me, he stood again and extended his hand. He said, “Hello, I’m Linton.” I shook, hopefully I introduced myself, I can’t remember, but I do remember my face registering my dawning recognition and surprise. The women at the table nodded and laughed. “Yes it is!” someone said. Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jamaican-British dub poet, activist, musician. Absolute legend of legends. Inventor of form. I don’t know if he’s so well known here, or that I know his work well enough, but he sure had a presence.

Best food memory from a book

Got to be all the kai in The Bone People! And the booze. The big, hearty, straight-off-the-land meals in that book provide a much needed comfort: a counterpoint to the violence.

Best thing about reading

The feeling you get when you’re so taken by a story that you absolutely have to get back to the book, and you kind of carry the story around with you when you’re not reading – you might even think about the characters the way you think about friends or family.

There are lots of great things about reading, but being so transported by a book, so in love with it, must be one of the most pleasant experiences you can have. I don’t get that often anymore, so when I do have it, I really notice. Because reading for work is always my first commitment, I need something really enthralling if I’m going to read for fun.

I reckon it must be a slightly different formula for everyone, and that’s the nice thing. I often find what other people rave about just doesn’t do it for me. Everyone has a slightly different alchemy in terms of what they need from a book. All of this applies to the process of writing too.

Best place to read

If I’m travelling alone, it’s always good to read in cafes, restaurants, pubs even, certainly on public transport, in parks. Reading outside is always nice.

This Compulsion In Us by Tina Makereti ($40, Te Herenga Waka University Press) is available to purchase through Unity Books. This Compulsion In Us launches at Unity Books Wellington, 6pm, Wednesday 28 May. All welcome.