Tracey Andersen, fifty-eight, Ngāti Porou, born in Motueka.
On the anniversary of my twentieth year of service to the Ministry of Social Development, I handed in my resignation letter.
My sisters and I registered our new business, Waka Whenua Limited, and thrust ourselves wholeheartedly into our Whānau Enterprise business. Every day, we were doing and learning something new. It was and still is very exciting, and we love that our whānau can see us being brave and entrepreneurial – being passionate in our mahi to benefit our whānau, our mokopuna.
It has also been time for us to consider those things we had always wanted to do but had put off. For me, it was writing. I have always written and kept journals, and I have a novella that I wrote over twenty years ago, still on faded typewritten paper, in a drawer. With my sisters’ encouragement, I enrolled in the New Zealand Diploma in Writing for Creative Industries at Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology and graduated with a diploma at the end of 2018. I strive to write every day and keep my journal full of ideas. It is my dream to, one day, be a full-time writer. I enjoy the discipline of it. The rewards are endless, if only to myself … for now.
Cassandra Barnett (Raukawa, Ngāti Pākehā) lives with her six-year-old son in Ngaio, Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She worked as an art history/theory lecturer for fifteen years and published essays in many arts publications. Then her ficto-critical bent got reborn as a fictional bent, and she now writes fiction (and poetry) about culture, belonging, power, voice and motherhood in colonial-contact zones. Her work is in Landfall, Turbine Kapohau, Brief, Ora Nui and Black Marks on the White Page and has been recorded for broadcast by Radio New Zealand. Cassandra has a PhD about contemporary art in Aotearoa and an MA in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters, Victoria University of Wellington. She is constantly weeding.
Marino-Moana Begman (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahungunu, Tainui) is forty-six and lives in the Bay of Islands. Her biggest fans are her three adult children – Jacqualine, Rainan and Shylee, who live in Sydney, her husband, Daniel, and ten-year-old daughter, Mackenzie. With their support and encouragement, she is fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. Marino considers her children the greatest achievement in her life. She loves reading, writing and travelling and often pines after the bright lights of a big city. ‘Botched’ is her first short story, written while studying Applied Writing at North Tec in 2018.
Ko Hikurangi te maunga
Ko Waiapu te awa
Ko Ngāti Porou te iwi
Ko Te Aowera, ko Te Whānau a Mahaki,
ko Te Whanau a Takimoana ngā hapū
Ko Pineamine Taihaere Campbell tōku pāpā
Ki te taha o tōku Kōkā
Ko Ruarakaiputara te maunga
Ko Te Wairoa, hopupu, honengenenge, matangirau te awa
Ko Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa te iwi
Ko Ngā Puata, ko Ngāti Rangi, ko Ngāi Tamakahu ngā hapū
Ko Tiranui MacGregor tōku māmā
Ko Pine Tamahori Campbell awau. Ko Rohatai Pewhairangi taku hoa pūmau. Tokowhitu a māua tamariki, Tekau mā whitu ngā mokopuna. Kei te ākau o Tokomaru e noho ana. Ko Kaingarua te kāinga noho. He kaiako ahau nō Te Ataarangi. He kaiārahi hoki mō Para Kore ki Te Tairāwhiti. Ko te taiao te horopaki ako i a au e whakatakoto i ngā rākau a Te Ataarang koia hoki ngā tikanga mō tō mātou papakāinga ki Kaingarua. Nō tō mātou taenga ki Tokomaru ka kitea ngā Para pounamu e takoto rā ki tahuna. Nā māua ko taku hoa a Rohatai ngā taonga i kohikohi, i whakawhata hei tāwēwē mō te kāinga, otirā mō tō māua whare toi ki Kaingarua. Ka mihi atu ahau ki Te Manukura Kāterina Te Heikoko Mataira nāna taku pene rākau i whakakoi ki te tuhi kōrero paki. He hokinga mahara ki ōna tohutohu i a au e tuhi ana i a Para pounamu. Kāti rā e Kui moe mai rā ki te uranga o te rā.
Kua tupu mai ahau i roto i te korowai o Te Aho Matua, arā, ko Te Kōhanga Reo me Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Mana Tamariki. Ko tōku kāinga, he kāinga e kōrerotia ana Te Reo Māori anake, ao noa, pō noa. Ko ōku karangatanga ā-iwi, ko Te Aitanga a Hauiti, ko Ngāti Porou, ko Rangitāne, ko Ngāti Kauwhata, ko Ngāti Raukawa Te Au ki Te Tonga me Ngāi Tahu. Ki ahau nei, ko te reo rangatira te mauri me te mana o te ao Māori.
Tēnā koutou katoa
My name is Paipa Edmonds (Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāpuhi, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui). From a young age, I have always enjoyed reading and writing in my spare time. The short story I submitted to the Pikihuia Awards began as a school assignment. Although friends and family enjoyed my story, I was given a ‘not achieved’ grade. Even though this was a big blow to my confidence, my family encouraged me to keep writing and to not give up.
Te Arawa, Mātaatua
He uri tēnei nō Te Arawa me Mātaatua. I tupu ake ahau ki Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe, ā, e mau tonu ana i te ahi-kā. He kaiako ahau ki Te Kura Tuarua o Ngā Tamatāne o Rotorua, e whakaako ana i Te Reo Māori. Ko Te Reo Māori tōku reo tuatahi, kāore he reo kē atu i te kāinga. Hāunga te reo, ko ngā mōteatea, ko ngā pūrākau, ko te whakapapa i whāngaihia mai ki a mātau ko ōku tungāne.
Olivia Aroha Giles is a writer, artist and designer of Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Te Atihaunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Scottish and Irish descent. She was born in 1962 and grew up in Wainuiomata. She writes children’s books, short stories and contemporary novels about feisty, independent women. She also paints, illustrates and works with textile, wood and paper. Her passions are reading, interior design and pottering about in her garden.
She and her husband, Scotty, a tutor, live in Ōtaki, and between them they have seven children who are out in the world being amazing.
Woman. Māori. Writer.
An ex-military servicewoman who, herself, was the first female recipient of the Sergeant Major of the Army Award on her New Zealand Army Basic Training in 2002, K M Harris enjoys writing her pieces with a Māori flavour and a military twist. Most of her writing compilations are biographical, genealogical and cultural stories, and engaging with people through her story writing is what she enjoys the most. K M Harris began her writing journey in Sydney, Australia, in 2013, and after working overseas and travelling to Europe and the United Arab Emirates, she has returned home to Aotearoa New Zealand eager to write for more whānau, hapū and iwi, irrespective of race or culture.
Ko te taura here tangata i takea mai i Whakapunake maunga, Wairoa awa, Kahungunu iwi, Tākitimu waka.
Josh is from Wairoa but left when he was twelve. He’s moved about ever since. Josh has lived in Wellington, Australia, Japan and England and now lives in the United Arab Emirates. Josh is the pāpā of Irirangi and Rohan Haora Hema.
Josh doesn’t consider himself a writer, yet. His story in this collection came in the middle of the night. He hopes more will come …
Nadine Anne Hura (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine) has published in E-Tangata, The Spinoff and Pantograph Punch. She was a recipient of a Michael King Writer’s Residency in 2018 and is working on a manuscript of essays for publication with the support of the Māori Literature Trust. She lives in Porirua with her three children.
Kelly Joseph (Ngāti Maniapoto) is a writer and artist currently living in the Waikato with her family. She has previously had stories published in Huia Short Stories 5, 7, 8, 10 and 12 and in Hue and Cry, Takahē and JAAM, and has broadcast on National Radio. She also has written poetry and articles for the School Journal. Recently, her work was included in the anthology Black Marks on the White Page and Pūrākau: Māori Myths Retold by Māori Writers. In 2009, Kelly spent eight weeks on Kapiti Island as the Tau Mai e Kapiti Māori Writer in Residence. More recently, she spent time at the Michael King Writers Centre as one of the recipients of the 2018 Emerging Māori Writers’ Residency. Kelly has an MA in creative writing from Victoria University of Wellington and a Master of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, United States of America.
Lauren Keenan (Te Ātiawa ki Taranaki) has now had a number of short stories published, most recently in Huia Short Stories 12. She won the 2017 Pikihuia short story competition and was a participant on the 2016 Te Papa Tupu writers’ incubation programme. She lives in Wellington and is currently working on a novel.
Hēmi Kelly (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tahu, Ngāti Whāoa) is a full-time lecturer in te reo Māori and researcher at Auckland University of Technology. He is a licensed translator and a graduate of Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo. In 2017, Hēmi translated Witi Ihimaera’s novella Sleeps Standing and published his first book, A Māori Word a Day, in 2018. Hēmi’s first piece of creative writing featured in Pūrākau: Māori Myths Retold by Māori Writers, published in 2019. Hēmi is also a keen composer of waiata and haka in te reo Māori.
Colleen Maria Lenihan is of Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi and Irish descent. After returning to New Zealand in 2016 after fifteen years in Tokyo and one in New York City, she decided to pursue her childhood dream of being an author. She is working on a collection of linked short stories.
Colleen is a photographer and lives in Auckland with her Italian greyhound, Ghost.
Moira Lomas (Ngāi Tahu) is a short story writer from Pāpāmoa in the Bay of Plenty, where she lives by the sea with her three teenagers, her partner and his daughter. Born in Ōpotiki and raised in South Auckland, she had a successful career working in New Zealand and overseas as a food technologist before retraining as a secondary teacher of technology. Always an avid reader, she has recently started to develop her storytelling skills as a photographer and writer.
Annette Morehu (Te Aupōuri/Te Rarawa/Tūhoe/Te Arawa) is a proud māmā of four, poet, screenwriter, playwright and film maker. Born in Whāngārei and raised in the Hokianga, Annette currently resides in Ōrākei.
Pāhauwera, Rākaipaaka, Tūhoe, Ruapani, Ngā Tokorima a Hinemanu, Tāmanuhiri
He kupu ki te pepa, he whakairo ki te rākau, nui wana kōrero hai tūhonohono i te tangata. He pī ka rere tēnei i roto i te ao tuhituhi e ako tou ana au ki āna nekehanga katoa. Ngākau nui ana au ki tēnei mahi tuhituhi e kawea ai au ki ao kē, ki te ao o te auaha. Koia te pai ki a au, korekore ana āna here, atu i te tika me te Māoritanga o te reo. Kua aua nei au e ako ana i te reo, ā, ko tēnei mahi tuhituhi e whāngai akoranga tonu ana ki au.
Born in the late 1980s in Whāngārei, I was raised in Dargaville, lived there my whole life and am still based there, now raising my two young children in the same family homestead that I was also raised in – lots of love, lots of family, lots of memories. I identify with Ngāti Whātua and Ngāpuhi as my iwi: Ngāti Whātua because of the area I call my home and Ngāpuhi being where my whakapapa comes from. I have always had a passion for reading other people’s stories but more so writing my own. I have just never done anything to pursue it. This is the first time I have entered anything into some kind of writing forum or competition, and although I did not win, I feel like a winner anyway for being presented with this awesome opportunity!
Michelle Rahurahu Scott (Ngāti Tahu-Ngāti Whaoa, Te Arawa) is a writer living in Te Whanganui-a-tara, but she heralds from Te Moana-a-Toi. She is a proud CODA, fluent in New Zealand Sign Language, raised by tangata turi. Her writing can be found on Turbine, RNZ, Pantograph Punch and the Māori literary journal Ora Nui.
Penny Smits (née Smith) is a consultant, writer and artist of Māori (Ngāpuhi, Te Rawara, Urban Māori), Pākehā and Aboriginal (Bunganditj – Potaruwutj/Tatiara) descent.
Penny has whakapapa to Hokianga, but was born and raised in West Auckland. Muriwai will always be her tūrangawaewae.
Penny is currently based in Melbourne, Australia. Her debut short story, ‘White Sheep’, is inspired by true events.
Amiria Stirling (Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Porou, Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe), first-time contributor to the Pikihuia Awards, has a passion for writing in te reo Māori. She writes books and stories that evoke emotion and stories that resonate with te iwi Māori. ‘Whakaurupā Taku Aroha’ is the author’s first attempt at writing for a mature audience and talks of lost love.
Kia ora, tēnei te mihi mahana ki a koutou nō te tonga.
Ko Bronwyn Te Koeti tōku ingoa, he uri au nō Te Tai o Poutini.
I was born in Bluff and grew up in Invercargill. Dad is of Māori descent and Mum was from Scotland. Our family moved to Palmerston North during my teenage years, then as a young adult, I moved to Wellington where I trained to be a primary school teacher. Currently, I am enjoying being a school principal at Arowhenua Māori School near Timaru, where I live with my husband, Rick, and the youngest of our four daughters, Jilly.