
Airana Ngarewa’s debut novel The Bone Tree held the top New Zealand fiction spot for 11 weeks. It is the troubled tale of two young brothers embarking on a journey to find their family’s past while battling against a background of violence, loss, and authorities.
Now he has a new book – Pātea Boys – a bilingual collection of stories about growing up in Pātea. It includes stories of sneaking away during cross country, crashing a car at age four, peeling spuds on the marae and learning to live by the tikanga ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’.
Airana features in conversation with Emma Wehipeihana.
Speakers

Airana Ngarewa
Born and raised in Patea, Airana Ngarewa (Ngati Ruanui, Ngarauru, Ngaruahine) writes about Maori affairs for The Spinoff. His writing has also been published by RNZ, NZ Herald, Newsroom and Landfall. He won the short story and poetry competitions at the Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Awards in 2022. His debut novel The Bone Tree held the #1 NZ Fiction spot for eleven weeks overall.
E kore e ka te rakau rewarewa E kore e ka te ngakau Ngarewa
Events

Emma Wehipeihana
Dr. Emma Espiner (Ngāti Tukorehe, Ngāti Porou) is an award-winning writer, broadcaster and political commentator.
Her podcast on Māori health equity, Getting Better: A Year in the Life of a Māori Medical Student (RNZ/Bird of Paradise Productions) won the Voyager Best Narrative Podcast of the Year in 2021.
In 2020 she won the Opinion Writer of the Year at the Voyager media awards, and her work has featured at newsroom.co.nz, stuff.co.nz, the Guardian, the NZ Herald and in academic and literary journals and books.
Espiner lives in Auckland, where she works at Middlemore Hospital as a surgical registrar.
The memoir There’s a Cure for This is her first book.
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