Waimārama Writers

  I was invited to attend the World Final of the Kids Lit Quiz today. Canberra Grammar (Australia) won the final. In the evening we had a dinner and I sat with one of the Australian families. The dad went to buy us a drink and I began talking with the mum. “What kinds of…

Wow man! Never would I have thought that a book I wrote would be nominated for a NZ Children’s Books award. But it happened with Freestyle: the Israel Adesanya Story that Ant Sang and I made. What an honour to attend the awards event, to hang out with awesome Kiwi writers and illustrators and be…

The Reading Tribe is a new book I’ve made where I ask some of New Zealand’s most successful people to share the books that have travelled with them through life. UFC champion Israel Adesanya found safety in the school library from bullies when he was younger and he was inspired to dream big by reading…

I’m working on a new book in the Pasifika Heroes series – Tokelau Heroes. Today my students performed a play about Lata, a legendary Tokelau hero. It was a show for children and was performed at Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau.

A pic from our photoshoot at Wiri Central School today. These awesome young people have written a pukapuka about their pride in being Māori. We’re launching their pukapuka during Matariki later this term. 15 new published authors unleashed into the world. Thank you to Manurewa Local Board for supporting this project.

They’re known for their rugby but young men at Hastings Boys’ High School are readers too. It was inspiring sharing with them today as part of a Read NZ Writers in Schools visit.