Akin to my Why You Should Read About the Experiences of the African Diaspora post, today’s post is about why you should read about the experiences of New Zealanders. We are a small but mighty county, but our diversity and multicultural standing make us a country of many perspectives, backgrounds, cultures, histories, and stories to be shared.

I am a firm believer in sharing and promoting minority and marginalised works, and I feel that New Zealand literature has a lot to showcase. I feel our stories carry similarities to so many other countries and cultures, making our authors and their works relatable and easy to sympathise with. We are a people who can be so exposed to other cultures and traditions, whether they are part of our family’s lineage or not, and the everyday experiences within stories can feel so gut-wrenchingly real that it is only too easy to picture the events in vivid detail.

But we are a country with our own flavour, our own unique additions and experiences that make New Zealand literature so interesting, immersive, and descriptive. We are a nation that can draw people in with our similarities, and wow with our differences, from the language choice and the character personalities to the landscape and social climate. I believe that New Zealand literature is well deserving of international acclaim and outreach, and I vow to promote and recommend New Zealand books to you all when and where possible.

But that isn’t all. This isn’t just a promotional piece for New Zealand literature. I wrote a similar post last year around this time, but I want to really hone in on the why of it all. Why is it important? Why should you read New Zealand works? Why read outside of your comfort zone? I see a lot of books set in the same places, about the same kinds of characters, talking about the same kind of things and including the same kinds of tropes. These books aren’t bad, but the lack of diversity and inclusion is. There has been a shift over the last decade, possibly coinciding with the increased popularity of online bookish reading communities on Instagram and YouTube, but certainly in response to the sudden popularity of TikTok during Covid and the type of books recommended on BookTok. This shift is calling for more representation, more diversity, more variety among stories, authors and voices. I think this is a much-needed call to action as algorithms work to prioritise the posts of certain types of creators over others. I feel very strongly about reading diversely, especially in terms of reading outside of your countries of origin and preference. In order for us to push for the change we want to see, we need to back that by promoting and recommending the diverse range of books and authors we want to see normalised. For me, this comes with reading and recommending to others books by indigenous authors, books written by authors in smaller countries, and books written by people who are marginalised. Reading New Zealand works is one way for readers from outside of New Zealand to do that, just as we New Zealanders can read more from authors in India, Ireland, Nigeria, Brazil, and other countries all around the world with such rich, important stories to share.

Reading about the experiences of New Zealanders is a small step, but an easy one to make that can have a positive, long-lasting impact on your reading and your life. I implore you to read more New Zealand authors and New Zealand stories, and let me know which ones you do pick up.