The search is on - the Māori Literature Trust invites Māori writers to submit their short stories for the 2019 Pikihuia
Awards.
There are six new categories in this year’s awards. Robyn Bargh, Chair of the Māori Literature Trust says, 'We have
restructured the Pikihuia Awards this year to encourage Māori writers to enter regardless of what level they are at. We
want to identify new writing talent, to encourage those emerging writers who have already shown promise, and finally we
want to find the best of our published writers'.
The categories are:
• First-time writer in te reo Māori
• First-time writer in English
• Emerging writer in te reo Māori
• Emerging writer in English
• Published writer in te reo Māori
• Published writer in English
The winner of each category will receive a cash prize of $2,000, and two highly commended finalists in each category
will receive a cash prize of $500 each. In addition, selected winners and finalists will be published in Huia Short Stories 13 – a series of contemporary fiction by Māori writers published by Huia Publishers.
The sponsors of this year’s awards are Creative New Zealand, Te Puni Kōkiri and Huia Publishers.
The competition closes at 5.00 p.m. on Monday, 8 April 2019. The Awards ceremony in September will be a chance to
celebrate the best of Maori writers.
Details about the awards and downloadable resources are available at www.mlt.org.nz.