Whiti Hereaka
Whiti Hereaka (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa) is a playwright, novelist, screenwriter and a barrister and solicitor. She holds a Masters in Creative Writing (Scriptwriting) from the International Institute of Modern Letters, Victoria University and is a trustee of the Māori Literature Trust.
She has also held a residency at the Michael King Writers' Centre in 2012 and 2017 and was International Writing Programme Writer in Residence, University of Iowa, in 2013. In 2007, she was the writer in residence at Randell Cottage and wrote her first novel, The Graphologist’s Apprentice, which was shortlisted for Best First Book in the Commonwealth Writers Prize South East Asia and Pacific 2011.
Her second novel, Bugs, won an Honour Award, Young Adult Fiction New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2014, and a Storylines Young Adult Notable Book Award in 2014. Her third novel, Legacy, won the award for Best Young Adult Fiction at the 2019 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.Selected bibliography:
- Legacy (Huia, 2018)
- Bugs (Huia, 2013)
- The Graphologist’s Apprentice (Huia, 2010)
Awards:
- Best Young Adult Fiction at the 2019 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults for Legacy
- Honour Award, Young Adult Fiction New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2014 for Bugs
- Storylines Young Adult Notable Book Award in 2014 for Bugs
- Best First Book in the Commonwealth Writers Prize South East Asia and Pacific 2011 for The Graphologist’s Apprentice