The Tui Motu staff for 2022-2023

The staff continued to produce each issue of the magazine through 2022. We are as follows:

Ann Gilroy — Editor —full time 
Ann Hassan — Assistant Editor and Administrator — 25 hours a week
Greg Hings  — Layout and Design — until Dec 2022 — contracted 21 hours per month and completed other projects when needed
Lilly Johnson — Layout and Design — from February 2023 — contracted 21 hours per month
Christine Crowe — Proofreader — volunteers to proof read each issue, 11 times per year
Makareta Tawaroa — te reo Māori consultant — provides advice on te reo in the magazine and gives us the Māori phrase for each issue
Holly Moroney — cleans the interior of the premises twice monthly

Ann Hassan is the dream colleague. She has made an inestimable contribution to the production and distribution of Tui Motu magazine and takes care of all the administration of the magazine.

Christine Crowe proofreads each issue and, as well as capturing errors before printing, is the first person to give us feedback on each issue.

Makareta Tawaroa is at hand answering our questions and encapsulating the theme of each issue in a te reo phrase. 

Holly Moroney comes regularly and keeps our premises sparkling.

Death of Greg Hings

We finished producing 11 the issues of the 2022 calendar year as usual, and had distributed the final December issue, when we received the unexpected news of Greg Hings' death of heart failure.

Greg had been our colleague at Tui Motu magazine for 10 years. He began in Kevin Toomey's and Elizabeth Mackie's time at the magazine and continued until his untimely death. There is more about Greg below.

Our New Designer

Lilly Johnson took on the layout and design of the magazine at very short notice producing issue 278 (Feb 2023) at the end of January 2023 in time for printing and distribution. Whereas Greg worked in our office, Lilly is working from home in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland — around two little children. The introduction of this new mode is working well.

Regular Writers

Neil Darragh, Mary Betz, Mary Thorne, Thomas O'Loughlin, Massimo Faggioli, and Brendan Daly have provided insights into Church, theology and life regularly through the year.

Tui Cadigan and Makareta Tawaroa have shared wisdom from a Māori perspective enabling further understanding and conversations within these islands.

Zain Ali has offered faith perspectives as a Muslim and scholar.

Kevin Clements has contributed background for understanding the conflicts and peacemaking efforts in our world.

Mike Riddell —In April 2022 we published the last article written by Mike before he died suddenly on 23 March 2022. Mike contributed his work generously to Tui Motu magazine over 20 or so years and was a favourite writer as shown in the many messages we received. These are representative:

"We are of course saddened to learn of Mike’s death. We appreciated his penetrating insights and his ability to express his ideas clearly and incisively and always with compassion. We never met Mike in person but feel that a friend has gone. We really appreciate your last sentence: 'Dear Mike, we feel an emptiness without you with us. We will miss you greatly. But we know that you are now embraced in the Mystery, that fullness of love and beauty beyond death.'" Jill and John Meredith, Lincoln 

"But a world without Mike Riddell and his wise words (recently I was re-reading his lovely Tui Motu article on Lent) is a sadder world for me." Barbara Grant, Auckland 

"I feel as if I have lost a friend and kindred spirit — and I know him only through his articles in Tui Motu." Pauline Morgan, Adelaide

Oh I am so sorry that Mike has gone from us, not sorry for him, who is already present with the One who nourished his creative spirit and nurtured his mind and soul, but for us … we who will so miss his wonderful articles. I loved them, he never disappointed. May he be at peace now. Rita Cahill, Matata

There is more about Mike below.

Regular Columnists and Reviewers

We have regular commentators who contribute on a monthly or bimonthly cycle.

Clare Curran — bimonthly columnist of Page 3.
Patrick Snedden — bimonthly columnist of Page 3.
Jane Higgins —monthly Cross Currents columnist. 
Shanti Mathias — bimonthly columnist of Page 26. Shanti's writing in The Spinoff earned her runner up in the Junior Feature Writer of the Year category in the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.
Shar Mathias — bimonthly columnist of Page 26.
Kathleen Rushton — writes article on Scripture interpretation every month.
Paul Sorrell — writes a review of a film, TV series or Netflix film/series every month.
Kaaren Mathias — monthly columnist of Looking Out and In until December 2022 when she retired after writing the column for 17 years.
Rosemary Riddell — bimonthly columnist of For What It's Worth. Began writing the column in February 2023. 
Bruce Drysdale — bimonthly columnist of For What It's Worth. Began writing the column in March 2023.

Jim Elliston, who wrote the Cross Currents column from 1998 till 2017, died at the end of September 2022. During his 19 years of writing Jim combed the sources and kept us abreast of important Church news. There is more about Jim below.

Robert Consedine, who wrote a column for Tui Motu from 2009 until 2017, died in September 2022. All his working life Robert, beloved by family and friends, had championed social justice. He was a prophet of our time and his style encouraged and led change — in understanding, attitude and behaviours. True to his vocation his last column was titled "Creating a Vision for te Tiriti o Waitangi". There is more about Robert below.

Kaaren Mathias began 17 years ago writing a monthly column A Mother's Journal reflecting on her family and professional life as a medical doctor in India. As her children grew up her column became more focused on her participation in the community and we changed the column title to Looking Out and In and placed it on the back page. This is the tenor of the messages we received when Kaaren wrote about retiring from the column (but not from writing): 

I will miss Kaaren's articles deeply. Every single one resonated with me. Soo real, and poignant, and connected. No highfalutin stuff with Kaaren. Real soul stuff. Real people and world stuff. Truly, I always read her page first, every single month. As I weep, of course I wish her every blessing. Thank you soo very much Kaaren. I know you will remain connected with who and what matters. Helen McEwen

What a legend — I am sure Kaaren's musings will be missed by more than a few readers: and we have been blessed to be able to share in her gentle and unhurried reflections. Her experiences in India were especially informative. I guess after 17 years of contribution she is deserving of a change. Peter Slocum

What!? No more creative reflections from your prolific pen in the future?! How you have managed to balance career, family, travel, faith and life just astounds and inspires me! My reading of Tui Motu always starts from the back page! You help turn the ordinary and every day into an adventure, a journey, a joy! I love your personal stories, cultural insights and your family adventures! May bounteous joys and delights guide and carry you, at a tranquil pace, on your continuing life's pilgrimage. Barbara Henley

New Writers to Tui Motu Magazine

During the year we published articles by 30 new writers reflecting on a range of topics. As well, we published the writing of more than 18 secondary school students: 

8 students from St Mary's College, Wellington
5 students from McAuley High School, Auckland
3 students from John Paul II, Greymouth
2 students from Pompallier Catholic College, Whangārei
students from Liston College, Auckland

We appreciate the teachers' efforts in getting their students' work to us.

Book Reviewers

Our volunteer book reviewers add to each issue with their to-the-point introduction to recent books. We published the reviews of 48 books on a range of topics through the year. They included theological, scriptural, spirituality and church perspectives, Aotearoa history and contemporary perspectives, novels and poetry. We receive review books from New Zealand and international publishers and send them copies of the published reviews. We also publish these reviews on our website and social media.

Below is a sample of the feedback we receive from the publishers:

Oh my, what a delightful review [The RNZ Cookbook]. Happy to hear you’ve been road testing some of the recipes. Tino pai.
Sarah Thornton, Massey University Press

Centrespread Poets

We've heard that readers appreciate the centrespread in each issue. This year we've published the work of six poets — Anne Powell, Mike Fitzsimons, Allan Davidson, Tom Lamb, Gregory McNeill, Brian Bilston — and the prophet Isaiah.

The Artists

We never underestimate the way that art and photography enhance each issue of Tui Motu magazine. 61 artists contributed their painting or sculpture through the 11 issues of this year. All were happy to have their work included and most gave their work without a fee — overall a substantial donation of approximately $6,000.