Loose Canons is a series in which we invite artists we love to share five things that have informed their work. Meet the rest of our Loose Canons here.

Ruby Macomber (she/they) is a poet, researcher and teina of Te Moana-Nui-a Kiwa; a daughter of Rotuma, Taveuni ma Kaikohe. She is the current NZYWF Writer in Residence at the Robert Lord Writers' Cottage in Ōtepoti, a 2023 co-editor of Taumata Rau and a 2023 Tautai Fale-Ship recipient. Featured in Poetry Snaps Podcast and Auckland Museum online, Ruby aims to interrogate the intersections of art and activism through her mahi in Te Kāhui, a creative writing kaupapa working with incarcerated and underserved rangatahi to empower equitable, accessible creative expression. She is currently working on a poetry anthology manuscript exploring Rotuman diasporic identity in Aotearoa.

Projects to highlight: NZYWF 2023

- Saturday 23rd September 3:30pm: 'Calling Community from the Page: Art and Activism' panel and workshop at Te Whare o Rukutia (20 Princes Street)

- Sunday 24th September 10am: 'I identify As An Imposter' panel at Te Whare o Rukutia (20 Princes Street)

- Sunday 24th September 11:30am: 'The Ethics of Worldbuilding' workshop at Dunedin Community Gallery (26 Princes Street)

My late nan

My nan was the first storyteller in my world. While she was raised speaking Rotuman and Fijian, at the end of her life, I would visit her, and she would ask me to pick out the books from the library with large print. Oftentimes restricted to period romances in English, we instead resorted to storytelling in front of the TV. I would massage purple anti-flamme lotion into her knotted shoulders, and she would wave her iri for the both of us. A proud Rotuman, she was hearty, crackup and fierce; she loved like no one else. She passed away in 2017. I miss her with every bone in my body.

Karlo Mila's Goddess Muscle

I found Karlo's poem 'Inside Us the Dead,' shortly after my nan passed away. It was first published at least 7 years prior, but something about divine timing - I found it just when I needed it. Karlo's poem reminded me of the purposes that poetry can serve: as a reclamation, a form of grief and a celebration of life. 'I am/the next wave of a tide that has been coming/for a long time.' I think this poem makes me feel how I want readers of my writing to feel. Like they are seen and valued.

'The Land Has Eyes': Vilsoni Hereniko's 2004, The Land Has Eyes (Pear ta ma ʻon maf) is the first ever Rotuman feature film and the first international representation of Rotuma I am aware of. The first time I watched the film, I felt Rotuma run the length of my hair to my heels. Hereniko's work is a reminder that no matter how far from Te Moana-Nui-a Kiwa we are, Indigeneity is felt just as it is embodied. Hereniko also directed Sina ma Tinirau, an animated Rotuman love story on which I have based numerous poems about love, relationships and Indigeneity.

Pink V

What started off as a piss-take has turned into a legitimate sixth love language. I have probably written more poems with a pink V beside me than without. At one point I was working full-time and studying full-time while still being a full-time daughter, sister, granddaughter, friend, aunty, etc. So when my friends started dropping lil energy drinks off to me at work, it felt really special, like they knew I was under a lot of pressure even when I didn't share it.

Te Kāhui and Community Arts Activists

Facilitating for Te Kāhui means working with incredible Indigenous young people! Indigenous rangatahi are ON! They are shapeshifters, redefining what it means to speak truth to power and call community to action. Especially ahead of the 2023 General Election, I've loved hearing young people in workshops re-imagine just, equitable and decolonial futures. Te Kāhui team are equally as inspirational. Michelle Rahurahu-Scott, Eric Soakai, Phodiso Dintwe and Riarn Richards are as fierce as they are talented. As kaimahi they move at the speed of trust and challenge systems that perpetuate harm against Indigenous story sovereignty.