Waitapu
By (Author) Helen Margaret Waaka
Escalator Press
Escalator Press
5th October 2015
New Zealand
General
Fiction
Short stories
Paperback
194
Beneath a range of mountains lies the rural town of Waitapu. Here, sisters Ruby and Rowena reconnect, Mereata feels her tipuna like a breath on the back of her neck and Harriet goes missing from the rest home. With a cast of lively characters, this collection of 18 short stories cracks open the image of rural tranquillity, to reveal the heartbreak and kindness of everyday lives. Helen Waaka was the winner of the 2011 Pikihuia Award for Best Short Story Written in English. With this collection she asserts herself as a perceptive and compelling story teller.
Helen Waaka, Ngati Whatua, Nga Puhi, Ngati Torehina, has a Graduate Diploma in Creative Writing from the Whitireia Creative Writing Programme. She also has a Bachelor of Nursing and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Women's Health. She currently works as a nurse in Hawke's Bay. In 2011 she was the winner of the Pikihuia Award for Best Short Story Written in English, and in 2013 she received a Highly Commended Award in the Pikihuia Novel Extract Written in English category. Helen's novel extract 'Eyes of God' was shortlisted by judge Witi Ihimaera for the 2015 Pikihuia Award for Best Novel Extract Written in English and will be published in Huia Short Stories 11.