Tina Makereti

ABOUT

In Brief

Tina Makereti is a fiction and non-fiction writer. Her first collection of short stories, Once Upon a Time in Aotearoa, was published in 2010.  She teaches Life Writing at Massey University in Wellington, and is writing a novel as part of a PhD Creative Writing at Victoria University.

In Detail

Tina Makereti is a writer of Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Te Ati Awa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Pakeha, and possibly Moriori descent. Her writing has appeared in a range of literary journals, magazines and anthologies including the NZ Listener, Huia Short Stories 8, Hue and Cry 4, JAAM 27 and Turbine 08. After completing an MA in Creative Writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters in 2008, she won the 2009 Huia Publishers Best Story Award for Best Short Story Written in English, and the 2009 Royal Society of New Zealand Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing – non-fiction.

Her first collection of stories, Once Upon a Time in Aotearoa, was released in 2010 by Huia Publishers. It explores a world where mythological characters and stories become part of everyday life. Old and new worlds co-exist, cultures mingle and magic happens. Once Upon a Time in Aotearoa is suitable for students aged fourteen and above.

David Hill wrote in his review of Once Upon a Time in Aotearoa, ‘Makereti is able to take a moment and examine its reality, even as she turns it into something symbolic and transcending…she writes lyrically – lushly on a few occasions. There’s excellent, crackly dialogue, and there’s a satisfying awareness of what to leave out, as well as what to include.’

Tina is currently writing a novel that explores the interrelationships between Moriori, Maori and Pakeha from the early 19th century through to the present day.  She is the mother of two girls, aged eight and 14, and lives on the Kapiti Coast. 

www.tinamakereti.com