Olivia Hall (she/her) is a poet, activist, and academic from Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland). Olivia lived overseas for five years, with her partner, in New York and London. She has a Master’s degree in Gender Studies - her passion area - and runs a sexual health charity. 

Carrie Rudzinski (she/her) is also a poet and activist, as well as a teacher, originally from Illinois, but has lived in Tamaki (Auckland) for the better part of the past decade. Carrie works at the University of Auckland, running the NBA program. 

Together, they created How We Survive: a poetry collective, and have toured their shows across Aotearoa New Zealand, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2022, Carrie and Olivia created Hysterical, an 80-minute poetry theatre show exploring the myth that women are too emotional by confronting body politics, systemic sexism, and weeping uncontrollable in the supermarket. I had the privilege of seeing Hysterical in Wellington, as part of their New Zealand tour, and I left feeling raw, alive, seen, and connected. 

In this episode, we discussed their powerful connection, their creative writing process, and the way intersectionality is baked into everything they do. 

https://www.carrierudzinski.com/how-we-survive

You can follow Olivia and Carrie’s work here: @hwsproductions 

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My music is written and recorded by the Kingston High All Stars in Wellington, New Zealand.

My graphics and website are done by MaggsyMayCo in Waterloo, Ontario.