Anika Moa (Design: Tina Tiller)
Anika Moa (Design: Tina Tiller)

BooksSeptember 4, 2024

‘I wanted the main characters to be lesbians!’ Anika Moa’s books confessional

Anika Moa (Design: Tina Tiller)
Anika Moa (Design: Tina Tiller)

Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Anika Moa, author of new picture book The Witch of Maketu and the Bleating Lambs. 

The book I wish I’d written

Auē by Becky Manawatu because it hurt my heart in the truth of it.

Everyone should read

A book written by a Māori because it is important to hear our stories written by us. 

The book I want to be buried with

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.

The first book I remember reading by myself

Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian – a book about an orphan who gets taken in by a grumpy old man in the first world war. Brilliant!

From left to right: The book Anika Moa wishes she’d written; the book she’d be buried with; and the first book she remembers reading by herself.

Utopia or Dystopia

I had to google those words. Lol. Defo dystopia. It’s more deep and scary.

Fiction or nonfiction

FICTION all the way. I love made up words and lives.

The book that haunts me

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. I still can’t believe how he survived for so long without human connection. Disturbs me (I know he did meet some peeps but not for ages).

The book I never admit I’ve read

Woman’s Day. Lol.

The book character I identify with the most

Te Hoia in How to Loiter in a Turf War by Coco Solid. Lol.

From left to right: The book Anika Moa would make a plot change to; the book she thinks should be made into a film; and Moa’s fave Aotearoa book.

The plot change I would make

I just read Lioness by Emily Perkins and I really wanted it to end some other way. It was such great story telling but I wanted the two main characters to be lesbians!

The book I wish would be adapted for film or TV

The Passage by Justin Cronin. Dream cast – Mark Ruffalo and Kate Winslet. The kid would be my daughter Marigold.

The most overrated book

Any self help books.

Greatest New Zealand book

Scotty Morrison’s Māori Made Easy. ALL OF THEM.

Greatest New Zealand writer

Becky Manawatu.

Best thing about reading

It takes you to a place that is fairytale-ish. I love to get lost in a good pukapuka!

Anika Moa’s children’s book.

Best place to read

In my lounge, with the doors open and the sun flowing in.

What are you reading right now

All That We Know by Shilo Kino. Only a few chapters in and captivated.

The Witch of Maketu and the Bleating Lambs by Anika Moa (Penguin NZ, $21) is available to purchase through Unity Books. 

Keep going!