New Auckland fiction reference collection

Auckland fiction reference collection at Research Central

We're excited to have our first standalone reference collection of Auckland fiction at Research Central, Level 2, Central City Library.

Fiction lovers can browse the Kōrero paki nō Aotearoa/Local Fiction Collection seven days a week, and visitors to the city can find a pathway into our culture through our stories.

Whilst focusing on Auckland fiction, the collection also includes work from wider New Zealand with an emphasis on Māori, Pacific and Asian NZ writers.

Local gems include short story writer O.E. Middleton's 1972 collection The Loners – with each story beautifully illustrated by celebrated artist Ralph Hotere. We also have a complete set of the New Women’s Fiction anthologies first published in Auckland in the 1980s. These were important counters to the lack of publishing opportunities for women writers in literary journals and major anthologies at that time. Aorewa McLeod, Ngahuia Te Awekotuku and Vivienne Plumb are some of the many voices found in these volumes.

The Loners by O.E. MiddletonNew Women's Fiction

Further anthologies in the collection include the Huia Short Stories series from the Pikihuia Awards for Māori writers, The Six Pack series of winning writing from NZ Book Month, and Oceanic stories in Black Marks on the White Page edited by Tina Makereti and Witi Ihimaera.

The Kōrero paki nō Aotearoa/Local Fiction Collection features work by established Auckland writers including Stephanie Johnson, Graeme Lay, Paula Morris and Nalini Singh, as well as newly published writers, Gina Cole, Dominic Hoey and Simone Kaho.

Three elder statesmen of Auckland literature are well represented; Maurice Gee, C.K. Stead and Albert Wendt, as well as heritage writers from earlier times - David Ballantyne, Amelia Batistitch and M.K. Joseph.

The Kōrero paki nō Aotearoa/Local Fiction Collection is complemented by full sets of literary journals Landfall, takahē, Sport and JAAM, also at Research Central.

Author: Leanne, Research Central, Central City Library

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