Pikihuia Awards finalists announced

The Māori Literature Trust Te Waka Taki Kōrero has announced the finalists for the biennial Pikihuia Awards, now in their 30th year. 

The finalists in each category are:

Poetry (te reo Māori)

• Aperahama Te Kapua-I-Waho Hurihanganui (Wairarapa, Te Arawa, Te Tai Rāwhiti) for ‘Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII’
• Aperahama Te Kapua-I-Waho Hurihanganui (Wairarapa, Te Arawa, Te Tai Rāwhiti) for ‘Taku moko kēnge’
• Aperahama Te Kapua-I-Waho Hurihanganui (Wairarapa, Te Arawa, Te Tai Rāwhiti) for ‘Te Matatini’
• Atakohu Middleton (Waikato) for ‘Te Taniwha Tupuarangi’
• Mokena Potae Reedy (Ngāti Porou) for ‘He oriori koiora moana’
• Te Aomihia Kaipara (Ngāti Naho, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe) for ‘Kia ū, kia mau!’

Poetry (English)

• Dianne Grennell (Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri, Ngāti Toarangatira, Ngāi Tahu) for ‘Asking for My Mokopuna’
• Janet-Liee Pihama (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa) for ‘Miriama’
• Jessica Hinerangi Kathleen Thompson-Carr (Ngāpuhi, Ngāruahine, Ngāti Ruanui) for ‘Tīpuna Go Fishing to Catch Another Mokopuna’
• Marama Salsano (Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Wairere) for ‘Calabashes in My Mouth’
• Shelley Burne-Field (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Rārua, Te Ātiawa) for ‘Skin’
• Shona Barnett (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Huri, Pikitu Marae) for ‘Seeding’

Short Story (te reo Māori)

• Atakohu Middleton (Waikato) for ‘Ko Tōku Tuakana Hou’
• Darryn Joseph (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Rereahu) for ‘He Kōrero Parāoa’
• Darryn Joseph (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Rereahu) for ‘Te Hapori Whanokē’
• Hāwea Apiata (Ngāti Kura, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Toarangatira) for ‘Te tohunga me te pirihi’

Short Story(English)

• Anthony Mokena Tuhorouta Kohere (Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Muaūpoko, Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) for ‘L!PSTICK CALLS’
• Mark Horsefield (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Rehia) for ‘The Sea Within’
• Shelley Burne-Field (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Rārua, Te Ātiawa) for ‘When the River is Ready’
• Toni Pivac-Hohaia (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pūkenga) for ‘Paradise Duck’

Tauira Short Story Award (English)

• Boyd Kahu Archibald (Ngāti Moeahu, Parihaka, Taranaki Iwi) for ‘Woman of the Water’
• Maia Waldegrave (Te Whakatōhea, Ngāti Rua, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi) for ‘White Māori’
• Nina Jude Digby (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha) for ‘Roller Coaster’
• Sarah Rose Mautoka Wilson (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou) for ‘Twilight’s Wake’
• Tamihana te koha a Matariki Teimana Simmonds (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Huri, Pikitu Marae) for ‘The Price of War’.

Judges for the award include Hēmi Kelly, Tayi Tibble, Maiki Sherman, Carol Hirschfeld, and Mike Ross.

All the finalists stories will be published in Huia Short Stories 16.

The finalists for the Keri Hulme Award will be announced at the beginning of September and all the winners will be announced at the Pikihuia Awards ceremony in Rotorua on 19 October 2025 as a part of KUPU Māori Writers Festival 2025.

More information is available on the Māori Literature Trust Te Waka Taki Kōrero website. 

Category: Awards Local news