07 – Floodgates

White boys playing at government without opposition? I’m on to you – Lia Incognita

Forget facts and figures, forget human rights. Australia’s refugee and immigration policies are still based on the myth of a ‘white
Australia’. Poet, performer and activist Lia Incognita performs this spoken word piece, addressed to the people in power.

This piece was originally published in text in the Right Now ‘Poetic Justice’ anthology in 2013. 

Dear Hello 07: 'Floodgates' by Lia Incognita

06 – Mother / Abai

You had a wish, which you shared with me, to see a peaceful Afghanistan - Taqi Khan

The Hazara ethnic group have long faced persecution and oppression. Violence, genocide and slavery have forced Hazara people from their homes in Afghanistan. Many flee to neighbouring Pakistan before some must make the perilous journey to Australia by boat.

Afghan-Hazara migrant Taqi Khan came to Australia as an asylum seeker. Afghanistan is still riddled with danger, and the Hazara
people are still suffering. Taqi wrote this letter to his mother. This piece features an original piece sung in Hazaragi by Taqi Khan.

Dear Hello 06: 'Mother / Abai' by Taqi Khan Azra

05 – Dear Norman

Knowing I was different, I had a lot to lose – Yen Eriksen

Negotiating identity and difference can be fraught. Whilst we cannot choose our background or context, we can choose how we decide to interact with differences. 

Yen Eriksen wrote this letter to ‘Norman’, a man she encountered whilst growing up and negotiating her identity as a young queer woman from a Chinese migrant background.

Dear Hello 05: 'Dear Norman' by Yen Eriksen

04 – Do you have sex in your wheelchair?

You, my beautiful wheelchair, give me freedom as much as you define me – Jax Jacki Brown

A wheelchair can be more than just a piece of equipment – it’s a way of moving through the world. Jax Jacki Brown is a disability and queer rights activist, disability sex educator and performance artist. She wrote this letter to her wheelchair.

This piece contains some adult content; sexual references.

Dear Hello 04: 'Do you have sex in your wheelchair?' by Jax Jacki Brown

03 – To the moment I stopped feeling safe

It’s my space, it’s our space, it’s everybody’s space. – Josie Smart

Women are constantly aware of ‘the worst possible’ outcome – that we may be abducted, raped, murdered – and our access to public space is limited because of this. However, this awareness can mean that we don’t talk about the ‘little things’ that happen – that being harassed, followed, assaulted is not something to worry about because it ‘could be worse’.

‘Dear, / Hello’ co-producer Josie Smart wrote this letter about the first moment she felt unsafe.

Dear Hello 03: 'To the moment I stopped feeling safe' by Josie Smart

02 – Dear Stranger

Was I behind glass? Under a microscope? At a zoo, in an enclosure? - Andy Jackson

What’s in a look? Poet Andy Jackson writes about form and embodiment. His most recent collection of poetry ‘Immune Systems’ is about medical tourism in India, and was published earlier this year. 

He describes the moment when strangers lock eyes as being “full of potential” – potential for connection, or for distance and intrusion. Andy wrote this letter about strangers, and the responsibility of being ‘strange’.

Dear Hello 02: 'Dear Stranger' by Andy Jackson

01 – Dear Tony

What if I don’t deserve all those things? - Flo Dacey-Cole

The ‘Great Australian Dream’. A white picket fence and income security; stability. Flo Dacey-Cole wants all these things. The prospect of Australia electing a leader who intended to destabilise welfare services and refuse to recognise the legitimacy of same-sex relationships was terrifying. 

On the eve of Abbott’s election, Flo wrote him this letter.

Dear Hello 01: 'Dear Tony' by Flo Dacey-Cole

November

Recording from the live session of DEAR/HELLO from the 2016 National Young Writers' Festival - October 2, 2016 from The Royal Exchange in Newcastle, NSW

Featuring original pieces:
Dear Body - Lamisse Hamouda
Dear Fat, Aboriginal Blonde Schoolgirl - Alison Whittaker
To The Women Who Raised Me - Somayra Ismailjee
Dear White Boys - Laurie May (co-written by Jessica Knight)

More info + artist bios here: http://www.dear-hello.com/live/

We would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which these pieces were recorded - the Awabakal people. We would like to pay respects to their elders past, present and emerging and extend that respect to other Aboriginal people listening.

DEAR/HELLO produced by Josie Smart + Izzy Roberts-Orr
INTRO/OUTRO music 'Sloth' by Paola Prinzivalli
(Attribution/Non-Commercial Creative Commons Licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/)

DEAR/HELLO [LIVE] from National Young Writers' Festival 2016

Audio storyteller / 
Keys / Violin / Ableton amateur
New to sharing things - get in touch - josephine.e.smart@gmail.com
Originally from Melbourne, Australia. Currently based in Bucharest, Romania.

JSmart

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