Interview: Cheryl Ware talks about Untold Intimacies

Dr Cheryl Ware is a historian of sex, gender and health in late-twentieth-century Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. She is the author of HIV Survivors in Sydney: Memories of the Epidemic, which received endorsement from internationally recognised leaders in oral history, Australian history, and histories of HIV and AIDS.

Cheryl has held a Royal Society Te Apārangi Marsden Fund Fast-Start Grant, a Judith Binney Writing Award and a Kate Edger Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship for her research on histories of sex work, and was shortlisted for the New Zealand Historical Association’s Mary Boyd Prize for the best article on any aspect of New Zealand history. Cheryl has conducted over 120 in-depth interviews across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand and served on the executive committee of the National Oral History Association of New Zealand from 2018 to 2024. She completed Untold Intimacies as a senior research fellow at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland. Cheryl talks to NZ Booklovers.

Tell us a little about your Untold Intimacies.

Untold Intimacies engages with the lived experiences of twenty-five individuals who worked in the sex industry in the years leading up to and immediately following decriminalisation (NZ became the first country to decriminalise sex work in 2003). These were highly controversial and transformative decades! The book highlights both the evolution of a national sex worker movement and the tensions that emerged as sex workers fought for financial, physical, and emotional safety amidst some of the biggest social and political upheavals in late-twentieth and early-twenty-first-century Aotearoa. It reveals how increasingly open discussions of sex and sex work impacted individuals’ working and private lives, and how narrators remember their experiences several decades later. As Untold Intimacies reveals, interviewees’ memories and private reflections guide us towards a deeper understanding of the past that is only accessible through the voices of those who lived through this period.

What inspired you to write this book?

I’ve always been interested in histories of gender and sexuality. Some of the men I interviewed for my last book – HIV survivors in Sydney – spoke about working in Australia’s sex industry in the 1980s and 1990s and navigating new ideas about sexual freedom. I was keen to pursue this topic when I returned to Aotearoa, especially amidst popular understandings of the late-twentieth century as a time when attitudes towards sex and sexuality became more open with the social movements of that era.  

What research was involved?

The twenty-five oral history interviews are at the heart of the book. These oral histories are a combination of interviews I conducted and interviews Caren Wilton (author of the excellent book My Body, My Business) recorded and very generously shared with me with the interviewees’ permission, of course. I also drew on interviews I had conducted for the Burnett Foundation Aotearoa, and interviews from Gareth Watkins’ PrideNZ archive. I then contextualised the interviews with a close reading of over five hundred articles published in mainstream newspapers, nearly three decades of community magazines, and personal correspondence from the Aotearoa New Zealand Sex Workers’ Collective’s private archive and at the National Library. So, I am of course indebted to all of the wonderful people and organisations that shared their archives with me!

Given the subject matter, was it a challenging book to write?

Parts of the book were very challenging to write! I found the first chapter – ‘Working Outside the Law’ – especially challenging as the relationships between sex workers and the police were extremely complex. It took a lot of work and a lot of restructuring to make sure I conveyed the nuances of these relationships at a time when the law granted police so much individual power.

What was your routine or process when writing this book?

We used to do writing ‘boot camps’ when I was writing my PhD in Sydney, which involved setting aside a couple of days to write as many words as possible without worrying about the structure or the quality of the work. All that mattered was that we got words on the page! I continued that practice when writing this book. My first draft of Untold Intimacies was extremely rough, but the boot camp approach enabled me to get everything out of mind and onto the page. I then redrafted, and redrafted, and redrafted, until the chapters were at a standard that I was not embarrassed to show to my friends and colleagues for feedback. My research group was a lifesaver and gave me so much amazing feedback and support!  

Are there any stories in the book that stand out the most for you, and why?

There are so many amazing stories! Sojourn, Allan, and Kay’la, among others, all shared really moving stories of finding their community in the sex industry. Catherine and Annah had very powerful memories of the fight for decriminalisation and the emotion they felt when the Bill finally passed – by a single vote.  

What did you enjoy the most about writing Untold Intimacies?

I really enjoyed engaging with people and hearing their stories, and I am very grateful for the time everyone shared with me. I especially enjoyed writing the conclusion, which is something I never thought I would say. I usually find conclusions to be quite challenging – especially the pressure to convey the crux of the book in the final few pages – but I found my voice with this book and it was such a privilege to be able to write it.

What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?

I actually haven’t celebrated yet! We are launching the book at Time Out Bookstore in Mt Eden on 25 July, so that will be a great chance to celebrate the book and to thank everyone who has been part of it. The last few months have felt a bit strange with the book being finished, but not yet released, so it doesn’t feel final just yet.

What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?

My favourite book this year must be ‘Before you knew my name’ by Jacqueline Bublitz. It’s the kind of crime novel that goes well beyond the mystery and offers such thoughtful social commentary. I could not put it down.

I’m currently reading Shoulder to Shoulder: A Queer History of Solidarity, Coalition and Chaos by Jake Hall, which is such a powerful and beautiful read. I came across the book on one of the displays at my local library and I’m very glad I did. I am also holding out for Will Hansen’s forthcoming book on trans activism in Aotearoa. He’s such a skilled historian and a talented writer.

Auckland University Press