Aotearoa New Zealand

Introduction

The most talked about fictional character in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2022 was a cheeky magpie called Tama, the narrator of Catherine Chidgey’s The Axeman’s Carnival. This novel was voted the favourite New Zealand book of 2022 and won the prestigious Jan Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. The Axeman’s Carnival is a rich, kaleidoscopic novel that is hilarious, tender, and suspenseful, with an undertone of dread. The narrator, Tama, a sentient magpie, weaves a fantastical story, full of poetical language and mysticism, yet the novel is also very much grounded in reality, with a compelling evocation of Central Otago and a layered critique of domestic violence.

The Hubert Church Prize for Fiction, which is awarded to the best first book of the year, went to Anthony Lapwood for his excellent collection of stories, Home Theatre. This spans from the early 20th century to the present day, linking the fantastical and the keenly real and deftly moving between genres, from science fiction to romance, historical fiction to domestic realism. The stories introduce readers to a series of colourful characters, and the building that connects them all.

The other novels shortlisted for the fiction award told important stories reflecting a literary landscape that is constantly evolving. Michael Bennett’s Better the Blood is a finely tuned thriller, opening with an historical atrocity before moving to a contemporary murder. Detective Hana Westerman is caught between his two identities, and everything becomes deeply personal. Fast paced and complex, Bennett’s novel centres on a conflict between revenge and love, and the kindness and protection needed to move forward. Based on an 1866 shipwreck, Cristina Sanders’ Mrs Jewell and the Wreck of the General Grant is historical fiction at its best. Dramatic, well-paced, and impeccably researched, Sanders offers insights into the devastating effects of becoming stranded. Acclaimed historian Monty Soutar’s novel Kāwai was the bestselling work of fiction in 2022, transporting readers across place, time, and generations. Set in Aotearoa before the arrival of European settlers, Kāwai revolves around a young Māori man’s quest to learn about his tipuna (ancestor), the legendary warrior Kaitanga.

Graci Kim was awarded the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best New Talent for her children’s Gifted Clans trilogy, an award that recognises contributions to fantasy and science fiction. Inspired by Korean mythology, the trilogy — the second volume of which The Last Fallen Moon was published in 2022 — follows the magical adventures of Riley Oh, an adopted twelve-year-old who craves healing power like the rest of her witch family. The trilogy has been optioned by Disney and features on the New York Times bestseller list.

Novelist and poet James Norcliffe was awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement for poetry, recognising his significant contributions to the New Zealand literary community. His children’s ghost story The Crate and adult retelling of the Grimm Brothers’ The Frog Prince [both Fiction] were both published in 2022. With co-editor Michelle Elyy, Norcliffe also released One of the Wild Kids [Anthologies], a collection of writing by twenty-first century teenagers. Novelist Stephanie Johnson received the Prime Minister’s fiction award, while historian Vincent O’Malley was recognised for his major contribution to non-fiction.

Coco Solid’s genre-busting autobiographical novel How to Loiter in a Turf War is a lucid work of fiction that dives deep into life in the ever-changing city of Auckland. In an urban landscape where gentrification rears its head, and racial tensions feel set to explode, three friends must cling onto each other. Former Poet Laureate Vincent O’Sullivan released a collection of stories, bookending his titular novella Mary’s Boy, Jean-Jacques [Fiction]. O’Sullivan’s new stories are wry, full of humanity, and make the reader aware of the complexity of the characters’ inner lives.

2022 remained a turbulent time for theatre in Aotearoa New Zealand, with the effects of Covid-19 still lingering. Within this, however, theatre makers still put forward new productions, highlighting emerging voices. Nathan Joe’s Scenes From a Yellow Peril [Drama] is a hilarious, almost post-dramatic meta-analysis of Asian identity in Aotearoa New Zealand. Emily Perkins’ The Made was commissioned by Auckland Theatre Company, and explores humanity, creation, and family connection – all done through placing emotion into a humanoid robot. Tracey Slaughter’s novella The Longest Drink in Town was adapted for the stage by One Question Theatre Company and was well-received for its ability to capture the story’s cadence and grit. The shows A Traveller’s Guide to Turkish Dogs and Owls Do Cry continued to tour and captivate audiences, there was a revival of Oscar Knightley’s Dawn Raids, and successful New Zealand productions of several celebrated plays, such as Long Day’s Journey into Night and An Oak Tree.

Hemi Kelly’s whakamāori (interpretation) of Brian Friel’s Translations, Ngā Whakamāoritanga [Drama], was published by Te Herenga Waka University Press, and works perfectly, as it draws on both Kelly’s Māori and Irish heritage, but also breathes new life into Friel’s investigations of the effects of colonialism on native language. Playmarket published two new pieces of Verbatim theatre together in a single volume: Transmission by Stuart McKenzie and The Haka Party Incident by Katie Wolfe [Drama]. Transmission details the parliamentary response to Covid-19 and is primarily crafted from interviews with then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, finance minister Grant Robertson and epidemiologist Michael Baker. This is an intimate piece that provides insight into one of the most challenging political and social events in contemporary history. The Haka Party Incident, as highlighted in our 2021 survey, explores a confrontation between Māori students and activists against a mock haka led by the University of Auckland’s Engineering School. Exploring the incident and its aftermath, Wolfe’s play is revealing, and masterful in its execution.

Indeed, the ongoing effects of colonisation, racism and harm ring through our literature, as well as joy, celebrations and survival. Scholar and poet Alice Te Punga Somerville’s collection Always Italicise: How to Write While Colonised was awarded the Mary and Peter Biggs award for the best book of poetry. This collection is filled with warmth, wit, and challenge. Ockham Poetry category convenor Diane Brown shares that the collection “stood out amongst a very strong field for its finely crafted, poetically fluent and witty explorations of racism, colonisation, class, language and relationships. It’s a fine collection, establishing and marking a new place to stand”. ¹

Khadro Mohamed’s We’re All Made of Lightning took home the Jessie Mackay Prize for best first book of poetry, the second book published by We Are Babies Press to take home the prize. Mohamed’s collection is rich in narrative and tender in voice, sharing Mohamed’s whakapapa (genealogy) and asking questions of its reader, pulling them close. At the close of the year, We Are Babies rebranded as Tender Press, and have announced a range of exciting forthcoming publications. Another independent press has emerged in our ecosystem: Saufo’i Press, founded by writer Faith Wilson. Saufo’i Press champions Moana Pacific writers, and its first publication, HEAL! by Simone Kaho is a powerful work which is unflinching in its exploration of trauma and survival.

Chris Tse was named as Aotearoa’s 13th Poet Laureate, and his third collection was published. Super Model Minority, is a prismatic collection, bursting with sensory joy, incisive critique and masterful craft. essa may ranapiri’s second collection, Echidna [Poetry], is part poetic reimagining of the Greek Mother of Monsters, and part kaleidoscopic automythography. The collection reaches through canons, time and space to gather together ranapiri’s whakapapa, whānau (family), communities and artistic influences. Scholar and poet Anna Jackson’s Actions & Travels [Criticism: General Studies] is a work of head and heart in generous balance, offering its readers erudite analysis of local and international poems, and engaging ways into reading and engaging with poetry more broadly.

The work of our poets and publishers, and the support of our poetry ecosystems have seen a flourishing of debut collections, including from Rebecca Hawkes, Tate Fountain, Cadence Chung, Rose Collins, Joanna Cho, Anahera Maire Gildea, and Michaela Keeble. 2022 also saw the publication of rhythmic, voice-driven and image-laden works from Michael Steven and Elizabeth Morton. Robert Sullivan’s Tūnui / Comet [Poetry] soared onto our shelves, and Sullivan was awarded the Lauris Edmond Memorial Award for poetry.

One of the key issues preoccupying both authors and critics is climate change. In 2022, we welcomed an expansive anthology of Climate Change Poetry from Auckland University Press, No Other Place to Stand [Anthologies], edited by Jordan Hamel, Rebecca Hawkes, Erik Kennedy and Essa Ranapiri. This timely anthology contains wide-ranging poetic explorations, and registers fear, anger, loss, and love. It is a collection which offers witness and connection, while eschewing easy comforts. Several works of literary criticism also raised pressing questions about the environment, from Elizabeth Leane’s analysis of Witi Ihimaera’s “The Purity of Ice” to Trina Bose and Punyashree Panda’s discussion of Jeff Murray’s Melt [both Criticism: Studies on Individual Writers]. Chris Prentice focused on Hone Tuwhare’s river writing, while Melanie Duckworth explored Margaret Mahy’s trees [both Criticism: Studies on Individual Writers]. For Hsinya Huang it was the connection between climate change and indigenous sovereignty that inspired, with a focus on Keri Hulme [Criticism: Studies on Individual Writers].

Huang was not the only critic to turn the spotlight on Hulme. Susan Najita and Bruce Harding provided an important overview of Hulme’s life and legacy (following her death in 2021) in the Journal of New Zealand & Pacific Studies, while Kaitlin Moore turned her attention to Hulme’s 2004 collection of poems and stories Stonefish [Criticism: Studies on Individual Writers]. Along with Hulme, Katherine Mansfield was once again a favourite with the scholars. Two significant works centred on Mansfield’s life and stories were published by Edinburgh University Press, the second volume of the author’s collected letters (from K-Z) and a collection of essays delving into the layers of The Garden Party and Other Stories [Criticism: Studies on Individual Writers].

A hallmark of Aotearoa New Zealand literary criticism in recent years has been the breadth of analysis ranging across forms and periods and 2022 was no exception. Scholars were captivated by Dylan Horrocks’ comics [Criticism: Studies on Individual Writers], the ironic nature of Pākehā stage performances [Criticism: General Studies], the wartime New Zealand fiction of Ngaio Marsh, and Pauline Vaeluaga Smith’s Young Adult Dawn Raid [both Criticism: Studies on Individual Writers]. Literature from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries received attention. Porscha Fermanis [Criticism: Studies on Individual Writers] examined trans-Tasman settler fiction, with a focus on Thorpe Talbot’s Philiberta (1883), W.M. Southan’s The Two Lawyers (1881), and E. Simeon Elwell’s The Boy Colonists (1878). Harry Ricketts juxtaposed Australian and New Zealand war poetry in a History of World War I Poetry [Criticism: General Studies]. Contemporary literature was equally popular, with a particular focus on the gothic, seen in Jennifer Lawn’s discussion of Charlotte Grimshaw [Criticism: Studies on Individual Writers] and in the collection Screening the Gothic in Australia and New Zealand [Criticism: General Studies]. These linkages between Aotearoa and Australia were also prominent in a special issue of the Journal of New Zealand & Pacific Studies, Cultural Reimaginings of New Zealand and Australia [Journals: Special Issues].

The art of looking backwards is one mastered by both Fiona Kidman and Kate Camp. Writing at different phases of their lives, these two brave and talented authors structure their memoirs as a series of essays. Kidman’s third memoir, So Far, For Now [Letters and Auto/Biography], is haunted by grief and loss but is centred on the process of the rediscovery of the self. The pages are filled with rich details of a writer’s life and compassionate insight into the causes close to Kidman’s heart. Camp’s memoir is similarly self-reflective, delving back into childhood memories and unflinchingly recounting painful and reckless episodes on her journey to adulthood. As the title of You Probably Think This Song is About You [Letters and Auto/Biography] highlights, there is much to relate to in this frank, uncomfortable but often heart-warming exploration of the self.

Aotearoa New Zealand farewelled three important literary figures in 2022. Poet, novelist and short story writer Geoff Cochrane was known for his compressed writing and evocations of his Wellington home. He was awarded the Janet Frame Prize for Poetry in 2009, the inaugural Nigel Cox Unity Books Award in 2010, and in 2014 was made an Arts Laureate. Frances Cherry likewise had a wide-ranging literary career as a novelist, short story writer, children’s author and creative writing teacher. She will also be remembered as a feminist and activist, her politics and creativity combining in her fiction, such as her 1989 Dancing with Strings, one of the first lesbian novels published in New Zealand. We also farewelled Jann Medlicott, art champion, literacy advocate and key supporter of the Ockham Acorn Prize for fiction, which bears her name. She will be remembered for her generosity and lasting legacy.