Māori writers within different generations of families are now becoming more prominent at the Pikihuia Awards. Chief Executive of Huia Publishers Brian Morris says this is a new thing and it should be celebrated.
It is the rise of inter-generational Māori writers.
Morris says, "One year it was a grandfather, this year it's his grandchild entering, and then the father and daughter duo, so this is how the awards have grown. No doubt, in the years to come, we'll see even more future budding writers."
Pikihuia was setup in 1995 to encourage and celebrate up-and-coming Māori writers.
"My heart is filled with joy to see the new writers emerge. Those are the ones eager to show their stories to the world and to show people who they are," says Morris.
He also says they are now seeing a rise in generations of family members writing and entering, submitting their short stories
Nominee Pere Durie says, "Te Raina is right into writing, that's her thing. She was a bit slow to get going so I sort of gave her a hard time to hurry and get an entry done. One way was to enter myself so she could hurry up and get her stuff done."
Some of this year's winners' stories will feature in Huia Short Stories 12.