Moira Wairama
Moira Wairama is a daughter, a sister, a mother, an aunt and a grandmother. She has five grandchildren and in May 2016 she was 785 full moons old.
She is a Wellington storyteller, writer, poet and teacher who specialises in bilingual tellings of Māori legends and in creating stories around New Zealand events, artworks and her own life experiences. Moira works part-time as SENCO at Te Ara Whanui Kura Kaupapa and has published work in both English and Te Reo Maori school publications. Together with her partner Tony Hopkins she is part of Soul Food Tellers, and has performed in venues throughout New Zealand. Moira is co-founder of the Baggage Co-op theatre collective which has produced a number of award-winning shows, and she has also written a number of dramas for Radio New Zealand. In 2016 Moira and Tony set up Baggage Books to publish her new picture book The Mother's Child and to produce a dramatised reading of her book The Taniwha of Wellington Harbour in both English and Māori.
Selected bibliography:
- Alphabet Art illustrated by Austin Whincup (Cycoda 2001).
- The Puppet Box illustrated by Bruce Potter (Scholastic 2007).
- Te Pouaka Karetao illustrated by Bruce Potter (Scholastic 2007).
- The Taniwha of Wellington Harbour illustrated by Bruce Potter (Puffin 2011).
- Nga Taniwha i te Whanga-nui a Tara illustrated by Bruce Potter ( Puffin 2011)
- The Mother's Child illustrated by Linda Tilyard (Baggage Books 2015)
Anthologies for children:
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Pick'n'Mix Volume 1-Fairies in the Computer ( Scholastic 2010)
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The Curioseum - Rupe and the Kuri ( Te Papa Press 2014)
CD:
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Readings of The Taniwha of Wellington Harbour / Nga Taniwha i te Whanga-nui -a-Tara (Bagagge Books 2015)
Awards:
- Storylines Joy Cowley Award 2006.
- Storylines Notable Book Awards 2008 Picture Books List for The Puppet Box.
- Storylines Notable Book Awards 2012 Non-fiction List for The Taniwha of Wellington Harbour.
- LIANZA Te Kura Pounamu Award 2012 for Nga Taniwha i te Whanga-nui a Tara
Other resources:
Storylines thanks zeald.com for their ongoing support of the Storylines website.