One year on
Kia ora friends,
On 4th November last year, HarperCollins released “Cult Trip”. What a ride it has been! I’m super grateful for my editor Holly Hunter and the marketing/PR team whose efforts got me on Kim Hill, TV and the NZ bestseller list. Every time I’ve been through Christchurch or Auckland airport since, I had to pinch myself when I spotted the orange-black cover on the “Top 50” shelf. But most of all, I’m moved by the feedback from readers and the growing network of cult leavers and their advocates. The momentum is building.
There were many opportunities this year to raise cult awareness and compassion for survivors, from my ongoing workshop How Not To Start A Cult to university lectures, podcast interviews and book talks. The last one was at the Tauranga Arts Festival which I visited with the brave Pasifika queen of poetry, Tusiata Avia. She has been struggling lately not just with her health, but a racist backlash. After being friends for 20 years, I only learned last week that she has quite a culty past. More to be revealed – watch this space!
My absolute highlight was the Palaver show with comedian Shay Horay in Lyttelton. Sitting in front of a hundred familiar local faces to talk about my life was far more nerve-wrecking than being on a big festival stage. Apart from my humble beginnings as a showbiz reporter in Hollywood, we quipped about the secret cult of Mr Whippy (insider joke) and Osho’s infamous former commune in Pune which I visited in 2017. I also had a few serious things to say about the controversial Indian “cashram” and why I wouldn’t go back there. You can now watch the Osho part of our interview on YouTube, thanks to Caleb MacDonald from Kita Films.
What I've read:
Big Fat Brown Bitch is Tusiata Avia’s new book, out next week. It made me cry at times. Despite the cover, her poems are not about fundamentalist Christianity, as much as the Samoan writer has dabbled in it, but about colonisers and hate. Tusiata’s beautifully raw and angry voice of truth conveys the pain of being othered and judged. I hope everyone who has struggled with their cultural identity or mental health can relate.
MORE TO COME:
I’ll be a speaker at the annual Skeptics Conference in Dunedin in three weeks – come along! It will be a weekend of stimulating discussion with some of my favourite people in the cultiverse, like Bronwyn Rideout who packs so much quality research about New Zealand cults into the weekly Skeptics newsletter (big shout-out – highly recommended read).
And last but not least: November 18th is International Cult Awareness Day. 45 years ago, 900 people – including children – died in a mass-murder suicide at the People’s Temple in Jonestown. Let’s talk about the red flags around coercion and control early on, not just when atrocities happen. High-demand groups usually start with good intentions and seem innocuous. It’s a spectrum.
Be aware & go well,
Anke
PS – If you missed my previous newsletters, you can still read them here – or unsubscribe below. More discussion and content in our FB group Culty Conversations NZ.