Becky Manawatu

Guest writer

Becky Manawatu (Ngāi Tahu) is a reporter and columnist for the smallest independent daily newspaper in New Zealand, The News, in Westport. Her novel Auē was published in August, by Mākaro Press. She lives in Waimangaroa with her husband and two children, and was born in Nelson in 1982.

For Keri Hulme

For Keri Hulme

For Becky Manawatu, and maybe for Keri Hulme too, the sea is a church.

By Becky Manawatu | 27th December, 2022

The Sunday Essay: For Keri Hulme

The Sunday Essay: For Keri Hulme

Does death draw us to the water? I think so.

By Becky Manawatu | 3rd July, 2022

Photo: Getty Images

The Friday Poem: Crumbs between stones by Becky Manawatu

A poem by Ockham Award-winning novelist Becky Manawatu.

By Becky Manawatu | 23rd October, 2020

Still life with speech, the Manawatu home, Wednesday 13 May. (Photo: Supplied)

The morning after at Becky Manawatu’s whare

The immense happiness of the morning after.

By Becky Manawatu | 13th May, 2020

Becky’s daughter on Waimangaroa Beach, the Papahaua Ranges in the pink distance.

A day’s grace: an essay for the new year, by Becky Manawatu

On colonialism and tikanga and the smoke in the sky.

By Becky Manawatu | 11th January, 2020

Image: Alan Tunnicliffe Photography/Getty

‘We need to help it die’: the beautiful, shocking first chapter of Auē

Becky Manawatu's first novel is a story about kids and gangs and curdled masculinity. About serendipity, and taniwha, and resilience. It begins with Taukiri dropping his little brother Arama at their uncle and aunt's place.

By Becky Manawatu | 10th November, 2019

Westport’s Clock Tower Chambers (Image: Becky Manawatu)

Is there any such thing as literature in Westport?

We continue our occasional - and occasionally insanely depressing - series which investigates whether literature exists in the provinces. Becky Manawatu looks for signs of bookish life in Westport.

By Becky Manawatu | 27th March, 2018