Emma Neale’s Liar, Liar, Lick, Spit (OUP) to feature at Bendigo Writers Festival
By Ōtepoti He Puna Auaha | Dunedin UNESCO City Of Literature | Posted: Thursday May 29, 2025
We’re thrilled that Emma Neale’s Liar, Liar, Lick, Spit (Otago University Press) has been selected for the ‘Cities of Literature Book Club’ – congratulations Emma!
Fibs, porkies, little white lies, absolute whoppers and criminal evasions: the ways we can deceive each other are legion. Liar, Liar, Lick, Spit, the new collection by Ōtepoti poet and writer Emma Neale, is fascinated by our doubleness. Prompted by the rich implications in a line from Joseph Brodsky — ‘The real history of consciousness starts with one’s first lie’ — it combines a personal memoir of childhood lies with an exploration of wider social deceptions.
Host Jacinta Le Plastrier and guests Grace Yee and Solli Rapheal will explore how at the core of the collection are tenets to hold on to: deep bonds of love; the renewal children offer; a hunger for social justice; and the sharp reality that nature presents us with, if we are willing to look.
Saturday 16 August 2025
10:00 am 11:00 am
Trades Hall36-40 View Street, Bendigo, VIC, 3550, Australia