Disclaimer: Critic’s reporting on themselves again.
Critic Te Ārohi’s very own Iris Hehir hung up her Features Editor and Law student boots last week, signing a contract to commit to a full-time position as the Editor-in-Chief of Critic’s centenary book. The elevator pitch: “A century of the Otago student experience through the eyes of Critic Te Ārohi.”
The contract was birthed out of a tense period of uncertainty over the project’s viability, dependent on raising enough donations to fund a salary, before pulling out of her papers on March 16th. With Otago University Press as the publisher and Critic’s current designer Evie Noad as the planned designer (pending contractual agreements down the line) it seems this is one pipe dream that’s set to become a reality.
Iris explained that the book’s origin story began at her flat’s kitchen island mid last year. A casual conversation between her and flatmate Evie (Critic insularity alert) about the centenary spiralled into a book proposal brainstormed on their whiteboard, one typically reserved for monthly updates of everyone’s ins and outs: beverages, trends, health phases, and political takes included. “I feel like no-one was really thinking about [the centenary] at that stage and I thought it would be cool if we all put together a book,” said Iris.
As Critic’s Features Editor for the second year in a row, Iris said she’s always felt that there should be a TV show about Dunedin students. “There’s just such a wealth of stories and stuff that’s happened that just feels so unreal. To be able to pull all that together in one place is just going to be amazing.” Paddy Gower echoed this sentiment to Critic Te Ārohi during writer’s training earlier this year, describing Dunedin as a “hot bed of stories” – although he could have been referring to the booming drug scene he’s become known for reporting on.
With the whirlwind of Critic’s weekly print deadlines and an intense Law exam season after the initial book brainstorm session, the idea was only revisited in November – by which point Iris had pitched the idea of working on the book full-time. In-between packing up her flat, road tripping to Nelson, and working double shifts at a hotel (morning housekeeping and evening waitressing), a “very ambitious” book proposal was fleshed out.
The 18-page proposal went into as much detail as describing the evolution of the “fuck Arana” chant’s popularity and letters to the editor from the ‘40s that angrily complained about women wearing pants on campus. OUSA Student Media Manager Kyle Murdoch and CEO Debbie Downs certainly weren’t expecting to be given a reading any Law professor would be proud of – and advised that it could use some whittling down to be more realistic.
February was spent working on a month-long contract to “get the proposal up and running,” explained Iris. She and Evie put together the refined proposal, fine-tuning the vision of the end-product and finding a way to make it a reality. “It’s really important to note that OUSA doesn’t have the capacity to put in anything,” Iris said. “I feel like maybe when you hear about a project like this you assume it's with the backing of an institution. We do have the backing in terms of support, but we don’t have the financial backing.”
Launching the proposal on February 24th with a Critic Instagram post, in just three weeks of fundraising through private donations and pledges, the book proposal raised $35k. This included a generous $1000 from OUSA’s own Mr President Liam White, $10k from former Critic Editor Zane Pocock, and a further $10k from a mysterious anonymous donor. It was half the goal amount of $70k for a salary, but enough for OUSA to hit the green light on the project – contingent on further donations. “So if those donations were to stop coming in, the project would get pulled. And that’s a constant risk unless we can continue the financial support,” Iris stressed.
A high point for Iris and the rest of the team was to see the reaction to the proposal as the support rolled in – both through messages of enthusiasm for the book and in the form of pledges. “Just to see everyone come together, it makes my salary way more meaningful because every dollar is someone’s love for the mag and what it means to them, and that makes it even more special,” said Iris. “It’s a testament to Critic’s cult-following. It’s really amazing to see the legacy [and collective identity] that we still have.”
The next 11 months will be spent digging through the archives at the Hocken Library, which houses every issue of Critic extending back to the very first. Outside of paging through newspaper copies of Critic, a huge chunk of the workload will involve networking with former alumni to contextualise stories and get a “long view” of Critic beyond what Iris has known in the three years she’s worked here. “It really hits home that this is bigger than myself, or bigger than us in the office today.” She plans on weaving behind-the-scenes anecdotes with reprinted articles and design to create an “immersive experience”. “There are a lot of very fun antics and stuff that never makes it to print in the story. There’s a story about making the story.”
The freshly-minted book editor at 21 wrapped up by expressing her enthusiasm to get stuck in. “Honestly I’m just looking forward to holding it,” she said. If you want to make Iris’ dreams (and the dreams of all of us here at Critic – past and present) come true, consider pledging – every cent really does count.