A Kind of Shelter Whakaruru-taha: An anthology of new writing for a new world order

Description

Sixty-eight writers and eight artists gather at a hui in a magnificent cave-like dwelling or meeting house. In the middle is a table, the tepu korero, from which the rangatira speak; they converse with honoured guests, and their rangatira-korero embody the tahuhu, the over-arching horizontal ridge pole, of the shelter. In a series of rich conversations, those present discuss our world in the second decade of this century; they look at decolonisation, indigeneity, climate change . . . this is what they see. Edited by Witi Ihimaera and Michelle Elvy, this fresh, exciting anthology features poetry, short fiction and creative non-fiction, as well as korero or conversations between writers. The lineup from Aoteraoa includes Alison Wong, Paula Morris, Anne Salmond, Tina Makereti, Ben Brown, David Eggleton, Cilla McQueen, Hinemoana Baker, Erik Kennedy, Ian Wedde, Nina Mingya Powles, Gregory O'Brien, Vincent O'Sullivan, Patricia Grace, Selina Tusitala Marsh and Whiti Hereaka. Guest writers from overseas include Jose-Luis Novo and Ru Freeman. Ihimaera and Elvy have curated a luminous hui, a book to return to time and again.

Witi Ihimaera DCNZM is one of Aotearoa New Zealand's best-known and most loved writers, a commanding figure across short stories, fiction, memoir and opera libretti and as an anthologist. Among his many awards is a New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureateship (2009) and the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement (2017). Michelle Elvy is a writer, editor and manuscript assessor who edits Flash Frontier: An adventure in short fiction and is assistant editor for the Best Small Fictions series. In 2018 she co-edited Bonsai: Best small stories from Aotearoa New Zealand (Canterbury University Press). She is the the organiser of New Zealand's national flash fiction day.