Tag: maori stories
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My Waitangi Day Read is Airana Ngawera’s The Last Living Cannibal
As soon as I heard Airana Ngawera was releasing another novel, I knew I had to get my hands on it. After several busy months of PhD work and an unfortunate bout of reader burnout, which resulted in me returning my library copy of The Last Living Cannibal unread, I managed to get my hands…
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adult book recs, adult fiction, adult historical fiction, airana ngawera, annafromuni, annafromuni 2026, book recommendations, book review, Historical Fiction, historical fiction book recommendations, kiwi fiction, kiwi novels, kiwi stories, kiwi voices, maori author, maori fiction, maori lit, maori literature, maori stories, maori voices, ngati patea, NZ author, NZ book recs, NZ Fiction, nz historical fiction, nz history, nz literature, nz reading, NZ stories, patea boys, te reo books, the last living cannibal -
New Zealand Fiction Excellency in Keri Hulme’s Iconic The Bone People
What a rollercoaster this novel is! Keri Hulme’s exceptional and iconic classic kiwi novel The Bone People, winner of the Booker Prize in 1985, is a masterful literary fiction novel which blends language, narrative structure, and style to deliver a compelling, emotional, and gut-wrenching story you will not forget. In a tower on the New…
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Monty Soutar Returns with Kawai: Tree of Nourishment
Back with another stunning and shocking novel, Kāwai: Tree of Nourishment by Dr. Monty Soutar continues the story of the powerful lineage of his line, providing a captivating tale of a period of Aotearoa New Zealand’s history that is full of action, conflict, and change. If you enjoyed Kāwai: For such a Time as This,…
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The Mires by Tina Makereti – Intense and Charming
The Mires by Tina Makereti, shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the Ockhams 2025, will immerse you in a tale of indigenous folklore, suspense, domestic drama, and the threat of extremism on ordinary lives. It is a magical page-turner from start to finish, and it won’t take you more than a…
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Read Maori Creation Myths in Witi Ihimaera’s Navigating the Stars
Mānawatia a Matariki! Happy Matariki to all! Stories are a significant part of life. Myths are a kind of story, one that tells the story of the origins and beginnings of a world, of the first people, and the beliefs that shape who we are. Witi Ihimaera’s Navigating the Stars is a collection of Māori…
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Lauren Keenan’s The Space Between – A Gripping Historical Fiction Debut
The Space Between by Lauren Keenan took me by surprise given the subject matter, historical events, and the two perspectives at the heart of this novel. I wasn’t sure what to expect upon picking up the novel, but I am so happy I did because The Space Between blew my mind and has piqued my…
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DI Nyree Bradshaw is Back in Catherine Lea’s Better Left Dead
New Zealand crime fiction is really scratching an itch of mine at the moment, and Catherine Lea’s Better Left Dead does a fantastic job at it. With heavy subject matters, complex characters, challenging conflicts and an action-packed plot that will hook you in for the ride, it is such an easy read to get through…
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Another Witi Ihimaera Classic with Pounamu Pounamu
His first official publication, Pounamu Pounamu by Witi Ihimaera is a colelction of short stories that serves as both the first glimpse of works to come and the established foundations of Witi’s work. Pounamu Pounamu marks the pledge of a young boy, who from a young age vowed to write stories about Māori that schoolchildren…
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Connections and a Sense of Belonging in Kate Evans’ Feijoa
Here I was thinking feijoas were a native New Zealand fruit, blessed taonga to some and wholeheartedly despised by others, only to have my world flipped upside down by Kate Evans’ exceptional, eye-opening novel Feijoa: A Story of Obsession and Belonging. This non-fiction beauty is full to the brim with information and stories, making the…
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Michelle Rahurahu’s Tragicomedy Poorhara Will Leave You Stunned
Poorhara by Michelle Rahurahu, winner of the Modern Letters Fiction Prize and the Hubert Church Prize for Fiction in the Mātātuhi Foundation Best First Book Awards at the Ockhams 2025, is a powerhouse of writing ingenuity and prowess. It is gut-wrenching, tear-jerking, and laughter-inducing, all wrapped up in one unforgettable tale. A tragicomedy set in…
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