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It’s two books, two wins for Tina Dahlberg, who won the fiction category of the Nga Kupu Ora Aotearoa Maori Book Awards last night for her debut novel, Where the Rekohu Bone Sings.
Dr Dahlberg, who writes under the name Tina Makereti, won the category in 2011 for her book of short stories Once Upon a Time in Aotearoa.
The arts category in the Massey University-organised awards was won by a book surveying the work of sculptor Fred Graham written by Graham with Maria de Jong.
The biography and history section was taken by Nigel Beckford and Mike Fitzsimons for Te Paruhi A Nga Takuta, is a snapshot of Maori participation and influence in medicine through the stories of 27 medical practitioners and students.
The non-fiction prize went to Living by the moon by the late Wiremu Tawhai, which gives a Te Whanau a Apanui perspective on the lunar cycle, while the best te reo Maori book was judged to be He Tuhi Marei-Kura, a 65-year old manuscript by Pei Te Hurinui Jones about Waikato Tainui rituals that was edited for publication by Ariana Paul and Tama Potaka.
Speaking to last night’s awards ceremony at Te Papa, novelist Patricia Grace encouraged Maori writers to write about what they know and tell their stories.
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