Part science fiction, part social realism
“Weird as f*ck” is one way Pip Adam’s latest book, Audition, has been described. It’s all about a spaceship that is hurtling towards the event horizon that holds three giants. Adam will explore the wonderous and disquieting themes of this challenging book with Rachael King at this year’s Queenstown Writers Festival.
Audition is part science fiction and part social realism – the three giants Alba, Stanley and Drew are squashed, immobile, into rooms in the spaceship. If they talk, the spaceship keeps moving, but if they’re silent, they continue to grow. The book was also shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
“The book is a lot about the justice system and prisons, and some alternative ideas for justice in New Zealand,” Adam says. “All those ideas culminated and I think I was really lucky – I was a resident of the Institute of Modern Letters when I wrote that book, so I had a lot of time to think and read, so that’s how it all came together.”
Adam has an obsession with big things – she studied at Otago University and has family in Invercargill and Queenstown, so the big landscapes of the region are always floating around in her mind. She’s written before about big buildings – one as big as the Burj Khalifa – on the West Coast. Aotearoa inspires Adam’s work too – she explains that she loves living here but is also interested in what the decolonial process is going to look like here.
“I’m very interested in some of the problems we have and some of the things that we need to solve, some of the justices that need to be put right. I don’t think there’s a country that I’d rather be in – this is a magnificent country.”
Her session, “Weird as”: Pip Adam’s Science Fiction, will include Rachael King. The pair will discuss each other’s books as well as the idea of the creative, imaginative and political potential that writing ‘weird’ things has. “When we skew things a little bit and make them a little bit weird, I think it gives us a chance to talk about things in a more expansive way sometimes.”
Adam will also be involved in Saraid de Silva’s session surrounding her latest book Amma, which was one of the book highlights of Adam’s year. It’s a book that explores three generations of women and their shift between Sri Lanka, New Zealand and London, each with their own volatile story and secrets. Adam describes it as touching on such profound work and experience – a fantastic read that she’s been recommending to everyone.
“I really love going down there because it changes every time I go down – and it’s that wonderful thing, the change but then the very beautiful permanence of the mountains and the lake – it’s a great combination. I’m really looking forward to talking to Rachael King. I love Rachael’s book – I love all of Rachael’s writing, but her latest book in particular, and I feel like there’s going to be some quite nice overlap between her latest book and my latest book. And of course, I just cannot wait to speak to Saraid de Silva about her book Amma, which is just magnificent. I’m feeling very excited about being down there.”
Adam is really excited for the festival and is so grateful to the organisers. “Weird as”: Pip Adam’s Science Fiction will take place at Te Atamira on Sunday, 3 November, at 10am. She’ll also be talking at Generational Shift, Cultural Clash with Saraid de Silva on Saturday, 2 November, at 12pm. You can see the full programme for Queenstown Writers Festival and grab tickets at qtwritersfestival.nz/programme
