He once spent a month lost at sea.

The 43-year-old Victoria University graduate (right) – who has just finished his studies and returned home – survived 30 days in an open boat with his friend, Kabuaua, a knife, a small container and some nylon fishing line.

He says he got used to praying five times daily and surviving on tuna fish.

Recalling his saga at sea, he says collecting fish for his church group was something he and Kabuaua were used to, but after their boat’s motor broke down they were forced to survive on their Kiribati knowledge of the sea.

“There was a big explosion and I knew from that time on that there was something in the engine that was beyond repair,” he says.

“There were no other options. It was a big and a real problem and we could not solve it in one day.”

For the first week, they survived purely on tuna fish and their flesh for hydration.

“We luckily survived on just tuna, which only came in the morning so we had to be ready. So as soon as we heard them jumping, we dropped the line, which had chicken feathers as the bait.

“After the seventh day, the rain came right from 4 o’clock in the morning through till the afternoon and that was the only time we had any good rain.

“So we started filling up our two litre [container] and drinking the water.”

The fisherman’s knowledge his father and uncles had passed down to him helped Mr Tamaroa navigate and know where in the ocean they were drifting.

KIRIBATI ISLAND.

Kiribati people use the stars and the galaxy for navigating at night.

Reading the Pleiades stars to realise it was not a good day for fishing was something he should have done, he says.

After spending many long hot days and freezing cold nights at sea, he noticed a colour change in the clouds.

This told them they were drifting closer to land and they would be at sea for a maximum of only three more days.

However, out of sheer luck a Taiwanese fishing boat caught sight of their broken-down boat and rescued them.

The Taiwanese found it hard to believe they had been stranded so long, because they had not lost any weight.

“We survived because of the tuna,” he told them.

Mr Tamaroa sees the stranding as a positive, life-changing experience.

“The drifting was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us because every Kiribati needs to be a good fisherman, whether you like it or not.  You need to be able to feed your family. For us, it’s a man task.

“We know that there’s always a 50/50 chance of coming back or not, but it’s in our blood as Kiribati people to grow up and fish and drifting is a part of life for us.”

His family always had faith and hoped that they would come back. They performed a customary rite for those drifting at sea.

“For my auntie, it was a custom that once you were drifted they put all your belongings in one bundle and they hang it right on the roof of the house.

“It symbolises calling you back. They never thought we were lost because my things were hanging there calling me back home.”

He now hopes to use the knowledge he gained in New Zealand over the past two years back in his home country.

LOUNGE LIZARD: Dai Henwood before his Wellington show.

IN a dimly lit bar in Wellington, on a weekday night, a mobile phone rings loudly.

Comedian Dai Henwood pauses mid-performance and cheerfully says: “Go ahead, answer it. I can wait.” The crowd laughs. I turn bright red. It’s my phone.

Dai doesn’t make the connection when we meet for an interview, and later, when I feel brave enough to tell him, he just laughs.

A ringing cellphone is now a common occurrence for stage performers, one of a number of hazards he faces.

Hectic schedules and busy nights entertaining can induce “intense paranoia”. A comment made in the audience or an odd name when interacting, has had Dai second guess whether he has said the same joke twice.

Occasionally he feels like sitting on a heckler. They can ruin the flow, something that is hard to ignore.

Comedy is timing, irony and juxtaposition. Dai believes a great show is any material done right: “That’s the beauty of comedy as an art form.”

He believes trying stuff that could be outrageously offensive is ok if dealt with in a way that people can laugh.

Shock tactics like racism or sexism can work if delivered properly, something Dai believes is overdone by younger comics and can offend an audience regardless of how funny the comic really is.

“If you’re going to start picking targets, you definitely have to be the main target yourself,” he says.

Dai Henwood is a happening thing.

DAI HENWOODS new show on C4

He has a second season with ‘The Jono Project’, currently showing on C4, and had a very successful comedy week in Wellington in May.

As well, he is back on 7 Days airing with TV3, so the laughs are only getting better with the small, hairy Aucklander.

Before fame on the stage at the Billy T awards in 2002, Dai completed his degree in eastern religion and drama at Victoria University.

His parents, Carolyn and Ray, helped establish the successful Circa Theatre in Wellington, providing a solid footing for the performances Dai is known for which sell out and succeed as a hugely popular comic.

Dai says with comedy, you never know how it will go. “I can write a show and think it’s funny, but never actually know until I do it in front of people.”

Putting a show together can take a good five months. The inspiration can come from anywhere, often while doing basic tasks like running or gardening, “where my brain is just wandering.”

“I never know when a joke will hit which is why it makes it so fulfilling. I know a line that will get a laugh and can’t wait till I deliver it,” he says.

Although Wellington is no longer home, Dai is easily recognised when on the street but tries to avoid Courtney Place on a Saturday night.

Being a “smaller dude” means he often gets mobbed or picked up by friendly drunks who want to say hello or take a picture.

“Young guys don’t realise just how intense they can be and can definitely freak me out,” he says.

At 32, Dai Henwood is where he wants to be. Confidence and a strong self-belief in his talent and his gigs going well means his job has worked out as hoped. He credits supportive parents and the advice from his Mum in getting him where he is today.

“Whatever you choose to do, commit and do it 110%, pick the path and go down it and go hard.”

Margaret Brown, Siobhan Malley and Leonie Orsborn dressed up for Kapiti College’s Shakespeare day. Photo: Supplied

Kapiti College staged the event, which was one of the regional schools competitions, last Thursday.

Paraparaumu, Otaki, Horowhenua, Wainuiomata, and Kapiti College were the five colleges competing  for prizes and to gain entrance to the national competition in Wellington in June.

Kapiti’s hours of practise getting ready for the festival paid off when both of the college’s entries won their way through to the national finals (see end of story).

Ms Malley first entered the college four years ago, and each year students have won prizes.

Her passion for theatre started with primary school drama groups which led her to studying theatre at Victoria University.

During that time she participated in street theatre work for the TV series ‘Dark Knight’.

Malley’s experience with other acting groups, such as in the Fringe Festival, film club, major productions and senior drama class performances illustrate her commitment to the performing arts.

“We started rehearsing at the beginning of March and each group had two rehearsals in the school holidays, rehearsals were generally an hour and a half to two hours long,” she says.

“It is impossible” to calculate the hours that were put into rehearsing, practising, lighting and stage set up.”

The ideas and themes behind the two Kapiti College pieces came from Malley’s creativity, previous directing and acting experiences.

“I wanted to deal with villains this year and Iago and Richard III are considered two of Shakespeare’s greatest villains,” she says.

“Richard III, his language is seductive. Despite being deformed, Richard’s gift with language allows him to seduce someone who hated him.”

The idea behind Othello, who is the”puppet master”, is that he appears manipulative and controls everyone around him for his own entertainment Malley says.

The win for Kapiti College is a personal one to Malley as it’s very important to her.

“I take the competition very seriously and work the students very hard.”

“From a personal point of view I feel successful when I push them further than they thought they could go and it pays off, of course, four out of four wins does put a huge amount of pressure on me to win again next year,” she says.

Malley hopes the audience understood the diversity of the plays.

WINNING EMOTION: Jack McDonald and Charlotte Dawson in the emotional Othello. Photo: Alice Petrie

“I am hoping they can see how versatile Shakespeare is and how the stories are still relevant today.”

Winning students
Kapiti’s two winning entries came from the plays Richard III and Othello.

Students Jack Mc Donald, who played Richard III, and Charlotte Dawson, who played Lady Anne, won the top overall prize to gain entrance into the nationals in Wellington.

The group who played Othello, Corey Kellogg, Marc McCarthy, Sally Brady, Trent Taylor, Rhya Mcready, Troy Coutts and Harriet Leeke won best use of elements.

From that group, Corey also gained direct entry into the National Shakespeare Schools production section.

The Princess’s Bedroom, founded and run by Sarah, 22, was launched last November aimed at students like herself on a budget.

Sarah, who is studying sciences at Victoria University, puts her studies aside six half days a week to sell her range of clothing and jewellery, from Korea all the way to Europe.

The caravan, in a privately owned car park, was designed and painted by Sarah as “a comfortable and familiar environment for young girls to shop”. She says it’s like a normal shop, “only smaller and more unique”.

GIRLS' CORNER: A city business tuned to a niche.

The store has a small changing section in the corner of the van.

The clothes are ordered and imported from Asia and Europe and new items are displayed every two weeks. The clothes are “cute, small and pretty” and are Asian inspired.

“I wanted to bring a different taste to the streets,” says Sarah.

She says she is satisfied knowing her clothes and jewellery are one of a kind. “It’s hard to find someone wearing the same thing as from my shop.”

She attributes the business’s survival to quality at low prices, ranging her jewellery from $10 to $15 for “poor students” and keeps a reliable list of regulars. “Girls always come back for something for themselves if they have previously bought gifts.”

Sarah also plans to go international with a website for her boutique [www.mypretty.net] being launched in two weeks and has dreams of expanding – “maybe even a store for men”, she jokes.

THORNDON grandmother Pat Johnson (left) is working her way towards an MA, after spending nearly 60 years away from the classroom.  

The 78-year-old grandmother of eight left school in 1947 as New Zealanders were coming out of war and depression.

“At that time, it was considered a waste of money to send girls to university,” says Pat, who raised eight children and then worked in administration in the public service.

She retired in 1994 and decided in 2006 that she might do “a paper or two” at university. “Everyone else in the family had been, why shouldn’t I.”

Three years of hard work – helped by the shorthand she had used as a civil servant – resulted in a BA in Classics, complete with cap and gown, last year.

And her academic goals have grown. Pat is enjoying studying classics and being at university, in particular the “very mixed community”.

She considers herself an “opsimath” – Latin for someone who is late to learning – but is taking every opportunity she can now.

“Education is a lifelong activity. You can never learn too much,” she says.

Her granddaughter Alexandria, 19, recently started at university, embarking on a four-year degree, and thinks it is really cool what Pat is doing. 

“It is totally inspiring to see, and I have a lot of respect for her because of it,” she says.

THE Shinkansen train stops precisely. The guard comes out and bows to everyone. The cleaners file out dressed in clean, white garments and carry their spotless mops.

This is Tokyo station, says Melda Townsley, just one of the culture shocks she experienced during her trip to Japan.

The first thing Kazuki Campbell noticed was the respect people pay one another.

“It was such a culture shock for me, even though I am Japanese,” he says. “Everyone was so formal and polite. Age is a big thing over there and everyone is aware of it.”

One of the first things Mrs Townsley noticed was that they accommodate short people like her. “They understood that everyone wasn’t 6ft tall, which I liked very much.”

She says young people have a better grasp of English in Japan, so if an adult has a question about English, they usually ask a student.

Kazuki spent a lot of his time in his year abroad working in a private school teaching English to intermediate and secondary students. He noticed a huge difference in the schooling.

“One of the strange rules I came across at the school, is that you aren’t allowed a boyfriend or girlfriend.”

He says the schooling is very strict and as you get older, getting into a good university is everything. “The students I knew gave up their sport for their last year at school and only had six hours sleep a night. This was so they could dedicate all of their time to study.”

However, Kazuki’s host father told him that once you are in a good university, the work is less intense.

Mrs Townsley found the way Japan deals with its 127,704,000 population amazing. “There are millions of people over there, but Japan has such a sense of order with large numbers.”

The Shinkansen train, she says, had an incredible amount of organisation for the number of people using it.  She enjoyed the sense of safety, the type where you could leave your bag, go and get something and it would still be there when you got back.

As well as the overall differences, the contrasts were evident from day-to-day living. Eating a lot of rice, for example. The Japanese eat rice as their main carbohydrate, says Kazuki. “They eat it morning, noon and night – rice is served for every meal.”

Unlike New Zealand, every breakfast Kazuki ate in Japan was served as a full, hot meal. “My host mother got up every morning at around 5:30 to prepare breakfast and lunch for the whole family.”

He says there is a clear definition of roles between the husband and wife, and Mrs Townsley agrees. From what they saw, the men were the money makers and the women had part-time jobs and ran the household.

They also live very compact lives, in small and neat houses with impeccable gardens, says Mrs Townsley.

But despite disciplined households, the children stay up very late: “There was one little girl at a place I was staying at, who would have been about five years old…she didn’t go to bed till 10 o’clock.” The young children she saw on her trip slept on roll-out futon beds that get packed away each day into the cupboard.

She says a lot of the business men she met rode to work by bike, which she found slightly odd compared to the Kiwi equivalents in their flash cars.

Kazuki, who is the Australasian under-18 karate champion, was also in Japan to train in the country where karate originated. “In Japan, they train a lot, and it’s all about spiritual strength.”

He says that they train the mind, so in a fight your body does not give up. “With any sport, though, they train six or seven days a week and it doesn’t matter what level you are at. Japanese people only have about one match a month, compared to the typical once-a-week Saturday matches in New Zealand.”

The Japanese population in New Zealand in 2006 was 11,910 and rising. Kazuki says manyJapanese students come toNew Zealand to get a degree in English. “It is such a valuable skill to have in Japan.”

Student don’t have the typical Victoria University lifestyle, adds Kazuki. “The drinking age is 20 over there and underage drinking isn’t common. I noticed that Japanese people really like to follow rules, whereas us Kiwis tend to break them.”

Kazuki’s goal is to live in Japan, and after he finishes his degree in Japanese and international business, he plans to go back.

“They are respectful people and although my Japanese friends had a strange love for pop music and following trends, I can’t wait to live there,” he says.

SALAINAOLOA WILSON: A scary gap in Samoan language learning.

IF you ask a young Samoan about the state of the Samoan language in New Zealand they will probably says it’s great – but the numbers disagree.

Statistics New Zealand reports that in the 2006 census, 63% of Samoans in New Zealand were able to hold an everyday conversation in Samoan. This was a decrease of four percentage points since 2001. 

Victoria University Masters student Salainaoloa Wilson has spent the past year researching Samoan students, parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of the language in New Zealand.

Young Samoan New Zealanders enjoy the language but don’t see it as useful, whereas parents and teachers believe it’s helpful for employment, Ms Wilson reports in a thesis to be submitted this month.

“When I interviewed the students about the state of the language their response was, ‘It’s going great’, but this isn’t the case,” she says.

There are significant differences between New Zealand-born and overseas-born Samoans’ ability to speak the language.

The percentage of overseas-born Samoans who could speak the language was 90%, which was more than double the proportion of New Zealand-born Samoans at 44%.

While the proportion able to speak the language increased with age, ability with the language decreased with age for those born in New Zealand

Ms Wilson says the rapid decline in Samoan language competency is “scary”.

Few primary schools have the opportunity to teach Samoan. The eight-year gap between early childhood and secondary education is proving too large for the maintenance of the language, says Ms Wilson.

She would like the status of Samoan promoted but says it’s difficult when night classes such as Wainuiomata High School’s have their budgets cut.

Low language competency was shared across other Pacific Islanders.

Only 17% of Cook Islands Maori were able to speak their own language, and one in four Tokelauans born in New Zealand could speak Tokelauan.

To get first-hand experience of life “behind the veil”, the Wellington librarian – with the help of local Muslims – wore a hijab to the Kilbirnie mosque.

“It was fascinating because I completely blended in,” she says.

“No-one blinked an eyelid.  I was completely, not invisible, but no-one noticed me. It was bizarre. You become part of them. It’s an identification. Once you put that on, you become Muslim.”

A Victoria film theory graduate (now working at Newtown Public Library), Helen decided to make a DVD about the Islamic culture in the capital city.

Called Our place – Your place, and based on her ethnic exploration, it helped Wellington City Libraries win an award for its contribution to race relations at the Human Rights Commission’s annual New Zealand Diversity Action Awards this year.

Helen’s interest began when she noticed that headscarves and ethnic dress were becoming a regular sight in the library.

Inspired by the diverse range of ethnicities and religions she dealt with daily, Helen sought to learn more about the people.

Visiting the Kilbirnie Mosque to get a taste of Islam was the logical place to start.

“Working at Newtown we get so many cultures coming into the library and I was just really interested, fascinated.

“It was partly because Islam is such a loaded topic at the moment, so I was really curious – what are the Muslims really like?”

She had previously made a film, A taste of Nineveh, which explores the Assyrian culture.

This motivated her to learn more about the diverse Islamic community in Wellington.

“The Assyrians are an entity in themselves, and the Muslims are quite different – I wanted to explore the other side.”

Her interest in learning about minority cultures living in Wellington originates from the portrayal of religions and foreign cultures in the media.

“There are so many stereotypes and preconceptions that you are given, you form, that I was really curious as to how they would stack up in reality.”

She adds our culture is quite feminist-based, and wearing headscarves or other concealing garb is seen as a sign of oppression.

The welcome atmosphere at the mosque and interaction with the women allayed her doubts on how she would be received.

“It was nice to throw some of these preconceptions away and see them as individuals. As people.”

The ethnic diversity at the Kilbirnie mosque is quite surprising.  Many have refugee backgrounds and lack confidence in their new country.

“You have to walk in their shoes a little bit before they will trust you.”

Following her positive experiences at the mosque, Helen visited a café in Lyall Bay and got the opposite reaction.

“Everyone stared.  It wasn’t glancing, it was directly staring for quite a while, and a lot of people did it.”

The waitress forgot her order, bought out the wrong thing and then forgot her cutlery.

“It was really weird.  It made me think – how difficult that would be dealing with that on a daily basis if you were a Muslim.”

Helen is fair-skinned, and her impression was Kiwis were disturbed seeing one of their own in Muslim garb.

“It’s just amazing how, you know just what you wear, completely affects how people see you and treat you, but it’s just a piece of cloth.”

So she was not treated as well as she expected?

“No, no, staring at someone directly is not respectful really.  It’s not treating you like you’re an equal.  It was bordering on rude.

“I don’t think you tend to see Muslims as people and that’s the problem with different ethnicities anyway, in a hijab makes it even more so.  People just look on them as something foreign.”

Wearing a niqab is something Corinne Poole (left) does every day.

A blue-eyed, fair-skinned, born and bred Kiwi, she converted to Islam six years ago.

Islam and the lifestyle obligations which go with it – no drinking, wearing headscarves – were alien to her before becoming Muslim.

Compared to the multi-ethnic crowds at the Kilbirnie mosque she stands out starkly – until she puts on her headdress.

Wearing a nijab or headscarf is an essential part of daily life as a Muslim, although how much you cover up in NZ differs between individuals.

Walking the street in her religious garb with her light complexion, she has found reactions are not always complimentary, but she simply ignores the jibes.

“The people who make comments would shout things at anyone who is different.”

Staring is rude…but

STARING is rude and New Zealanders aren’t wont to do it.

Celebrities love that about us.

But what’s it like to wear something out of the ordinary every day?

To gauge the reception people in full Muslim dress receive, NewsWire conducted a social experiment on Cuba St passers-by.

Dressed in a burqa with NewsWire cameraman ready, we captured the reaction of the public – and our perception was people were merely curious.

There were no derogatory comments or aggressive actions.

But there were a few prolonged stares (captured below), and most of the public gave a brief, discreet glance before looking away.

RAIN pours down, but inside the hall candles and the smell of coffee and tea create a warm, friendly atmosphere.

Over hot drinks and biscuits, strangers meet, introduce themselves, return to tables. What’s happening at the Sunday evening church service at the Presbyterian St John’s in the City seems unconventional.

CREATIVE: Ryhan Prasad.

A young man in jeans and t-shirt gets up and starts talking to the 30 or so gathered about recent natural disasters. He asks people to form four groups of seven or eight and share their thoughts.

Three key questions, projected on the whiteboard, are supposed to set people thinking and get discussions started.

Every Sunday at 5.45pm, the church holds an informal and modern-style service, aimed at young people aged 18 to 30, although all age groups are represented.

The evening service is a chance for people new to Wellington to get to know members of the community and for young adults to socialise. A shared dinner after the service is provided by volunteers, who have set up a cooking roster.

Getting in touch with each other and sharing thoughts seem to be the main objectives.

“I just moved to Wellington and quite like coming here to meet people,” says one young woman.

Senior Minister Allister Lane says New Zealand has a decreasing attendance at churches: “We wanted to offer something for young adults.”

Ryhan Prasad, 33, is to become a minister and was one of the people who initiated the idea of an evening service.

When consulting the young members of church about year ago, he found that young adults had a strong sense for community and wanted to be able to exchange ideas about religion and faith.

WELCOMING: Chalk on the footpath invites to the service.

Offering a creative church service less formal than the traditional morning service does not mean it is less true, says Ryhan.

The form of worshipping may be different and less formal, but the evening service follows the same structure as the morning service and is often conducted by the same preacher, as both services are connected to each other as part of St. John’s.

“I think the days are really gone where someone stands up on a pulpit and tells you everything is black and white. I mean when talking about Christian faith you don’t need to be able to do that.”

Instead, he says, people need to be able to explain their faith to themselves in order to live that faith: “We discuss and question and you need to form your faith.

Victoria University Professor of Religious Studies Paul Morris, says St John’s in the City promotes a kind of individualistic faith.

“In some ways, I’m sure there is a kind of market share for young people,” he says. “Some people will just go there and see what happens at the service.”

Although New Zealand is regarded as a highly secular country, he thinks religion is very important to most New Zealanders.

INNOVATIVE: Ryhan Prasad initiated the idea of a modern church service for young adults at St. John's in the City.

Young people do not see themselves as religious, but often link to spirituality and show morals and an understanding of ethics that is close to what churches promote as a part of religion.

“Young people increasingly don’t have a religious background anymore.” In 40 years there has been a dramatic turn-around in New Zealand, he says.

Since the 1960s, the number of “non-religious” people has gone from about 5% to nearly 60%.

Those under 30 are more likely to claim they have a sense of spirituality instead of religion or faith.

St. John’s in the City has a regular audience at the evening service, but Professor Morris is not sure if the unconventional service will reach the masses.

He says religion in New Zealand today is not such a formal thing: “You will always find that there is a hard-core Christian group and a hard-core secular group.”

Shannon Lenihan

Gabriela Mendosa, 19, is Roman Catholic and used to go to church, but then stopped because she lost faith after feeling her prayers were not heard by God.

“You know, people always go and say something like if you pray for something it will happen. I did that and lost my faith.”

She says she is not tempted to go to the St John’s services just because they are modern: “It shouldn’t be about how modern it is and what goes on, it should be about how strong your faith is and what you believe.”

Her Catholic friend, Shannon Lenihan, 18, thinks of church as a tradition. Modern services seem “fake” to her.

Ari Fratucilli

Ari Fratucilli, 22, does not go to church, because he does not “believe in God or any religion”, but says for some people a modern-style church service may be appealing.

A study by Massey University of 1000 people shows that just over a third of New Zealanders describe themselves as religious.

Half of the 53% who said they believe in God also said they had doubts. However, 60% of those asked said they would prefer their children to have religious education in primary school about all faiths.

Duncan Wright and fellow challengers gather at Verve Cafe for their kick off party.

IT CAN take years for a seasoned author to finish a novel, but 30 over-caffeinated Wellingtonians plan to do it in a month.

Duncan Wright, from Highbury, is one of 390 New Zealanders pounding away at their laptops for National Novel Writing Month, a challenge to write a 55,000 word novel through November.

Duncan, 32, is no stranger to the event: he has completed the challenge every November for the past six years.

“I usually tell my friends what I’m up to and they look at me like a complete crazy and say, ‘Why don’t you read a book?’”, he says.

The British expat has always wanted to be a writer, but never had the discipline to do it until he heard about the event online.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy, however. Of 119,301 participants who took part worldwide last year, only 18% completed their novels.

At the start, Duncan says, he feels great to be under way. “Then you’re like ‘uh, I want to die, I want to stop, why do I keep doing this to myself?’”

This year will be especially tough for Duncan. He’ll be aiming to type an average of 1667 words a day on the novel, while also working on his PhD in biology at Victoria University.

The key to success, he says, is resisting the urge to edit.

“The principle is that you don’t care about quality as you go along. You free yourself up from getting stuck and continuously trying to rework a single sentence and never getting very far.”

Duncan intends to publish one of his works but says he will die before he lets anyone read last year’s novel, where he switched from science fiction to romance.

“I didn’t know you can’t be evil to your characters in romance, you can’t blow them up, which is always my solution to a problem in science fiction.

“You can have ninjas attack or blow something up [but] you just can’t do that in a romance story. Well, it doesn’t usually work.”

As one of New Zealand’s municipal liaisons for this challenge, Duncan organises meetings for Wellington participants during the month and arranged for writer Doug Wilkins to speak at the group’s kick-off party on Halloween.

This is the first event for Northland resident, Tegan Southon, 24, who says she plans to become a writer and feels confident she will complete the challenge.

Annabel Youens, 33, a Canadian living in Newtown, says she had a false start prior to this year: “I signed up before but I got really drunk on Halloween and didn’t end up doing it,” she says.

“This is it, I’m going to make it happen this year.”

Although the writing has begun, aspiring speed writers can still sign up at www.nanowrimo.org.