Patricia Grace
Encyclopedia
Patricia Frances Grace, DCNZM
, QSO
, (born in Wellington
, New Zealand
in 1937) is a notable Māori writer of novels, short stories, and children's books.
Her first published work, Waiariki (1975), was the first collection of short stories by a Māori woman writer. She has been described as "a key figure in contemporary world literature and in Maori literature in English".
. In 2006 she was one of three honourees in the 2006 Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement. Grace was awarded the Distinguished Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit
in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours. She is the 2008 recipient of the prestigious biennial Neustadt International Prize for Literature
.
Grace is a patron of the Coalition for Open Government
. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English refers to her prose as distinctive in its "spare style based on the speech structures of Maori English".
New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order established in 1996 "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits."The order includes five...
, QSO
Queen's Service Order
The Queen's Service Order was established by Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, awarded by the government of New Zealand "for valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the public sector, whether in elected or...
, (born in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1937) is a notable Māori writer of novels, short stories, and children's books.
Her first published work, Waiariki (1975), was the first collection of short stories by a Māori woman writer. She has been described as "a key figure in contemporary world literature and in Maori literature in English".
Biography
Grace currently lives in Hongoeka Bay, PlimmertonPlimmerton
The township of Plimmerton is adjacent to one of the more congenial beaches in the northwest part of the Wellington urban area of Porirua in New Zealand...
. In 2006 she was one of three honourees in the 2006 Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement. Grace was awarded the Distinguished Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit
New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order established in 1996 "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits."The order includes five...
in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours. She is the 2008 recipient of the prestigious biennial Neustadt International Prize for Literature
Neustadt International Prize for Literature
The Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, World Literature Today. It is widely considered to be the most prestigious international literary prize after the Nobel Prize in...
.
Grace is a patron of the Coalition for Open Government
Coalition for Open Government
The Coalition for Open Government was a political pressure group formed in the late 1970s to promote open government in New Zealand. The Coalition disbanded in the mid 1980s, but re-formed in April 2007, in response to Government plans to rewrite the election finance laws.-History:The group formed...
. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English refers to her prose as distinctive in its "spare style based on the speech structures of Maori English".
Works
- Mutuwhenua: The Moon Sleeps, (Longman Paul, 1978; Penguin Books [NZ] Ltd., 1986; Women's Press Livewire, 1988; Cambridge University Press, 1991).
- Potiki, (Penguin Books [NZ] Ltd., 1986; Women's Press Ltd. [Great Britain], 1987); translated into Finnish, (Kaantopiiri Helsinki, 1990); German, (Unionsverlag Zurich, 1993); French, (Arlea, 1993); Dutch, (De Geus, 1994); UHP Hawaii, 1995.
- Cousins, (Penguin Books [NZ] Ltd., 1992); German translation, (Unionsverlag Zurich, 1997).
- Baby No-eyes (1998)
- Dogside Story (2001)
- Tu (2004)
- Ned and Katina, (Penguin Books [NZ] Ltd., 2009).
Short story collections
- Waiariki, (Longman Paul, 1975; Penguin Books [NZ] Ltd, 1986); first collection of short stories by a Maori woman writer.
- The Dream Sleepers, (Longman Paul, 1980; Penguin Books [NZ] Ltd., 1986).
- Electric City and Other Stories (Penguin Books [NZ] Ltd., 1987)
- Selected Stories (Penguin [NZ] Ltd., 1991)
- The Sky People (Penguin Books [NZ] Ltd., 1994; Women's Press Ltd. Great Britain)
- Small Holes in the Silence (Penguin Books [NZ] Ltd., 2006)
- Collected Stories, (Penguin Books [NZ] Ltd., 1984); first three short story volumes.
- Text for Wahine Toa, a book of paintings by Robyn Kahuikiwa, stories with women in Maori mythology (William Collins, 1984; Penguin Books [NZ] Ltd.; Viking Pacific, 1991).
Children's books
- The Kuia and the Spider/ Te Kuia me te Pungawerewere (1981)
- Watercress Tuna and the Children of Champion Street/ Te Tuna Watakirihi me Nga Tamariki o te Tiriti o Toa (1984)
- The geranium (1993)