Well-known children's author Kyle Mewburn talks with Jane Arthur about her life, which has recently changed radically. (A highlight from the 2021 Verb Readers and Writers Festival in Wellington)

The experience of a particular trans life is vividly communicated in this highlight from the 2021 Verb Readers and Writers Festival in Wellington.

Well-known children's author Kyle Mewburn talks with Jane Arthur about her life, which has recently changed radically.

Hear Kyle Mewburn talking to Jane Arthur about her memoir Faking It at the 2021 Verb Wellington Festival

Kyle Mewburn's memoir is one of transformation.

In Faking It, she takes us back to her childhood in Australia where growing up as a young boy she had to hide her true identity.

From Australia to the world, to Aotearoa, this is a story of finally becoming who you are. Kyle speaks to Jane Arthur about her life story so far.

Kiran Dass writes: "For anyone wanting an insight into the trans experience, Faking It is an invaluable personal account. Spirited and triumphant, Mewburn is an inspiration to embrace living an authentic life, free from going through the motions." (Newsroom)

More listening:

Kyle's 2019 interview with Kathryn Ryan, focuses on her continuing relationship with her wife Marion.

What will I be today? - Jureggsic Park, by Kyle Mewburn

What will I be today? - Sheep and Rescue, by Kyle Mewburn

What will I be today? - Washing Lions, by Kyle Mewburn

What will I be today? - Soap Serpent, by Kyle Mewburn

Kyle Mewburn

Kyle Mewburn is one of New Zealand's most eclectic and prolific writers. From multi-layered picture books (Old-Hu-hu; Hill & Hole) to laugh-out-loud junior fiction series (Dinosaur Rescue; Dragon Knight), her titles have been translated into eighteen languages and won numerous awards including Children's Book of the Year. She was Children's Writer-in-Residence at Otago University in 2011 and President of the New Zealand Society of Authors from 2013-2017. Mewburn won the Joy Cowley Award in 2005 (presented by Storylines Children's Literature Foundation of New Zealand in recognition of the development of a picture book text), and has won in both the Picture Book Category and the Children's Choice Category at the 2007 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Her memoir Faking it: My life in transition is published by Penguin (2021).

This session was broadcast in association with Verb Wellington

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details