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October 23, 2025
Becky Manawatu Honoured at Pikihuia Awards for Māori Literary Excellence
Moeawa Fransen
Posted On October 23, 2025
Download AudioThe 2025 Pikihuia Awards have honoured the best in Māori literature, celebrating excellence in poetry and short fiction in both te reo Māori and English.
Among the winners was acclaimed author Becky Manawatu, who received the Keri Hulme Award for her novel Kataraina.
Held at Te Puia in Rotorua as part of the Kupu Māori Writers Festival, the biennial awards marked their 30th anniversary this year, showcasing the growth of Māori storytelling across generations.
Manawatu also recently won the Sargeson Prize, New Zealand’s largest short story competition, for her work The Vase.
She says she’s proud to be a wāhine Māori storyteller, whose field is growing.
“It really is, and it feels really special to be part of something that’s growing and becoming its own movement. Just to be a small part of that, we need a lot of voices to tell our story,” says Manawatu.
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