Greta and Valdin

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No doubt making poetry ‘hip’ via ‘social justice’ was a mistake. In a time when a single poem posted online can garner millions of views and catapult a poet to viral fame, we choke on its unimaginative ash. “Artistic colonisation” is Arkind’s polemical label for it but I’m hesitant to be that belligerent. Poetry gets caught in the vortex of creative non-fiction, disciplinary boundaries are blurred, and poetry as a form loses its uniqueness. Often it feels like these poems could be better served as personal essays. In addition to the New Zealand setting (and a brief stint in Argentina and Colombia), the narrative exists in the even more focused setting of the intriguing family dynamics of the Vladisavljevic clan, whose blend of Māori, Russian and Catalonian culture and all that comes with it is the distillation of New Zealand’s multicultural melting pot into its purest form. I blink, trying to remember why I might need to say something. 'Um, no, I don't think there was anything else?'

Rebecca K Reilly’s début novel, Greta and Valdin, is an exception to this rule in the best way. Rather than read like a self-contained narrative, the story feels almost like a segment of two lives. Events that took place before the novel begins are relayed through the two main characters and subtly interwoven into their mutual concern for each other. Reilly makes modern romance exciting and compelling in a way that reminded me of Sally Rooney. . . . Greta and Valdin is an amusing and vivacious romantic drama led by two hilarious and engaging queer main characters, and I don't think you could ask for much more from a novel in 2021.'—Josie Shapiro, ReadClose At the moment, for personal reasons, I don't like reading things about people being in love with each other.' —Valdin It's all rather messy. The original title of the novel was Vines (it was under this title that author Rebecca K. Reilly (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Wai) won the 2019 Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing). I can see why - the lives of the central characters and their families and lovers become fairly well tangled by the end of things, twining about each other in a well-watered but unpruned kind of way.

Tumblr girlies will remember the discourse” that accompanied this trend, writes Ash Davida Jane. Her Pantograph Punch piece last year, “ Golden Age of Online Poetry“, serves as a reminder of pointless “debates about the distinction between mythology and religion, and the ethics of writing about deities that don’t belong to you.” Needless to say, a demand of all poetry to virtuously toe the line, whether about Vishnu or asexuality, doesn’t help foster creativity.

Hysterical, smart, and gay. I loved these characters so much. Greta & Valdin is an engrossing and charming read peppered with humour and insight. I can’t wait to read more from Rebecca K Reilly." —Emily Austin, author of Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead The publisher says: “Reilly’s exploration of love, family, queerness, migration, karaoke, the generational reverberations of colonialism and the disturbing realisation that your parents have a past will have readers falling in love with Greta, Valdin, and all of the Vladisavljevics.” Simon waves me over into the meeting room and I close the door as gently as I can. I wish this potential firing wasn't taking place in a glass room, but I suppose that's late-stage capitalism for you... I laughed, I cried, I cheered with Greta and Valdin. This is a novel that tastes like life." —Margaux Vialleron, author of The Yellow Kitchen Rebecca K. Reilly's exploration of love, family, karaoke, and the generational reverberations of colonialism will make you laugh, might make you cry, and will certainly make you fall in love with Greta, Valdin and all of the Vladisavljevics.Just like Greta, I “know someone who has an art exhibition coming up,” dislike the employees at Unity Books, and frequent Xi’an Food Bar In a time when a single poem posted online can garner millions of views and catapult a poet to viral fame, we choke on its unimaginative ash Everyone looks at me. They look serious and warmly accepting of my culture. I can't even think of one karakia. I think of a school camp where we had to sing 'Thank you, Lord for giving us food', to the Superman theme tune. In a panic, I think whether it would be appropriate to sing a song by the Māori and Pasifika reggae band Herbs. Helping the siblings navigate queerness, multiracial identity, and the tendency of their love interests to flee, is the Vladisavljevic family: Maori-Russian-Catalonian, and as passionate as they are eccentric.

Reilly said: “It’s a very exciting opportunity for my book to gain a new readership outside my home country and not something I take lightly. I look forward to working with the team at Hutchinson Heinemann and seeing what happens next!” I’m sure the book’s popularity is to do with the characters’ rich social lives and their extended family unit which is tightly bonded and feels responsible for and to each other. But their truer tensions are never scratched. Greta and Valdin is a macaroon of a book appealing to an audience in a globalised woke psychosis.I laughed, I cried, I cheered with Greta and Valdin. This is a novel that tastes like life Margaux Vialleron From the first sentence, Greta and Valdin feels not like a beginning but a continuation, as life truly is. The first chapter isn’t a beginning; it’s just a day in two lives. Likewise, the last chapter isn’t the end; it’s just when the narrators cease to relay the story. Rebecca K Reilly’s debut novel, Greta & Valdin, originally published in the author’s native New Zealand, is being brought to the UK by Hutchinson Heinemann. Yes, by the end of this funny, smart, tangled web of family and romantic relationships you really can't help but root for everyone involved. Rebecca K. Reilly, you have a new fan.