E Tuhi ! Get Writing ! Awards for Māori Writers 2005 Finalists
Media Release 30 June 2005
Will the next Patricia Grace or Witi Ihimaera please stand up?
The finalists for the E Tuhi ! Get Writing ! Awards for Māori Writers 2005 have just been announced. For many of these aspiring writers this could be their first step towards the dream of being published. James George and Kelly-Ana Morey both short-listed for major international literary competitions this year, were finalists in the Māori Literature Awards in 2001 (rebranded as the E tuhi! Get Writing Awards for Māori Writers in 2003), demonstrating the success of the Awards as a platform for emerging writers.
This year's competition has been fierce with entries coming in from around the world. Robyn Bargh, managing director of Huia (NZ) Ltd marvels, "That's the beauty of the electronic age, a Māori writer can write a truly international story somewhere on the other side of the world and can get it to us at the touch of a button. It makes the competition more vigorous not to be constrained by geography".
The judges for this year's awards are Patricia Grace (Huia Publishers Novel Award), Keri Hulme (Huia Publishers Short Story Award), Rhonda Kite (NZ Film Commission-Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga Award), Wena Harawira (Te Pakiwaitara i te reo Māori Award) Huia Publishers (Secondary Student Short Story Award).
Rhonda Kite, judging the filmscript category remarked on the quality of the entrants, "All of these writers have the 'gem' that it takes to become a successful screenplay writer. From here on out it is about: skill, gaining technique, but most of all finding that very place that one goes to in order to access the truth in every story. That takes commitment and investing in ones self."
While Keri Hulme found it difficult to make a "short" shortlist, naming sixteen stories as finalists, Patricia Grace singled out seven novel extracts from twenty five entries before choosing two she felt were exceptional.
The judges have selected finalists in each of the categories with the winners to be announced at the Awards ceremony at Te Papa in Wellington on 1 October.
The Awards ceremony will be the finale of the Māori Writers Festival 2005 which celebrates Māori literature and will run in the Wellington region from the 29th September to the 1st October 2005 (watch this space for more details).
Award winners (excluding those in the secondary school category) will each receive a computer package with software and printer. The first prize winner of the secondary school category will receive $500 cash and their school will receive $500 worth of Huia books. There are also two second prizes of $250 cash and $250 worth of books for the schools concerned.
The finalists are:
Category 1- Huia Short Story Award
Giving Way, Ranui Taiapa, Ngati Porou, Wellington.
Nearly There, Michelle Cotter, Ngati Kahungunu, Napier
Poroporoaki Atiawa, Gordon Ham, Ngati Tuwharetoa, Taumarunui
The Facts of Life, Jacqui Brown, Te Atiawa, Haunui a Paparangi, Karori, Wellington
Rise and Shine, Tania Lewis, Nga Puhi, Whangarei
1988, Maraea Rakuraku, Ngati Kahungunu, Murupara
Aidan Marshall Mattson, Larree Lust, Te Atiawa/Ngati Kahungunu, Levin
Who Bore the Force, Eru Hart, Ngati Kahungunu, Wellington
Weight of the World, Melanie Drewery, Ngati Mahanga, Nelson
Close to You, Anahera Gildea, Ngati Raukawa, Wellington
Dancing Around the World, Maraea Rakuraku, Ngati Kahungunu, Murupara
Hey Sis, Larree Lust, Te Atiawa/Ngati Kahungunu, Levin
Minding Grandad, Larree Lust, Te Atiawa/Ngati Kahungunu, Levin
Small Mercies, Tania Lewis, Nga Puhi, Levin
What If He'd Hugged Me, Denise Cribb, Ngati Ranginui, Tauranga
Ripe, Charlie Holland, Te Aitanga a Mahaki/Ngati Porou, Petone
Category 2 Te Pakiwaitara i te Reo Maori
Piripoi, Uenuku Fairhall, Ngati Rangiwewehi/Waitaha/Ngati He, Rotorua
Tee Rae a te Seven, Waaka Vercoe, Ngati Whakaue/Ngati Awa, Whakatane
Ko Maui me nga Kumara a Wiwiwawa, Bazil Keane, Ngati Kahungunu, Pukerua Bay, Wellington
Harore Parore, Charisma Rangipunga, Ngai Tahu, Christchurch
E Kore a Muri e Hokia, Megan Ellison, Ngai Tahu, Christchurch
Category 3 Secondary School Student Short Story Award
Hineteiwaiwa, Mareta Taute, Tuhoe, Lower Hutt
Totara, Sophie Parker, Ngati Porou Ngati Raukawa, Cromwell, Central Otago
The Little Park, Rachel Torckler, Ngati Kahungunu, New Lynn, Auckland
One Sweet Day, Stacy Morgan, Ngati Kahungunu Tuwharetoa, Waipukurau
The Maori Redemption, Hine Cassidy, Ngati Porou, Weymouth, Auckland
Category 4 New Zealand Film Commission-Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga Award
Jump, Pere Durie, Rangitane, Papamoa, Bay of Plenty
Warbrick, Pere & Meihana Durie, Rangitane, Bay of Plenty
Unclaimed Luggage, Witi Hereaka, Tuwharetoa Te Arawa, Aro Valley, Wellington
Craving, Wiremu Grace, Ngati Toa Ngati Porou, Titahi Bay, Wellington
Category 5 Huia Publishers Novel Award
Hiruharama, Isabel Mulholland, Ngati Uepohatu, Auckland
A Fair Bit of Parley, Shona Jones, Ngati Kahungunu, Hastings
The Māori Literature Trust would like to acknowledge the support of our sponsors:
Huia Publishers
Creative New Zealand
Te Waka Toi
Te Puni Kokiri
Toi Māori
Astra Print
Wakefields Digital
Te Taura Whiri I te Reo Māori
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
Te Papa Tongarewa
For further information please contact Katrina Smit, Publicist, Huia Publishers, 04 473 9262 or Katrina@huia.co.nz