Patricia Grace

Author of Potiki

38+ Works 1,046 Members 34 Reviews 2 Favorited

About the Author

Novelist, short story writer, and children's author Patricia Grace was born in Wellington, New Zealand on August 17, 1937. She was a teacher in primary and secondary schools in Northland, Picton, and King County, New Zealand. She is of Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa and Te Ati Awa descent and has been show more instrumental in the emergence of Maori fiction in English. Her first collection of stories, Waiariki, was published in 1975 and won the PEN/Hubert Church Award for Best First Book of Fiction. Her second novel, Potiki, won the fiction section of the New Zealand Book Awards in 1987. Her children's book, The Kuia and the Spider, was the winner of the Children's Picture Book of the Year award in 1982. Another children's book, The Trolley, won the Russell Clark Award in 1994. She also won the 2005 Deutz Medal for Fiction or Poetry for Tu. She was honored as a living icon of New Zealand art in 2005 and currently lives in Plimmerton, New Zealand. Her title Chappy made the New Zealand Bst Seller List in 2015. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the name: Patricia Grace

Disambiguation Notice:

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Image credit: NZ Book Council

Works by Patricia Grace

Popular Recent

Potiki (1986) 305 copies

Tu (2004) 103 copies

Cousins (1992) 83 copies

Dogside Story (2001) 73 copies

The Kuia and the Spider (1981) 60 copies

Mutuwhenua (1978) 49 copies

Chappy (2015) 47 copies

Baby No-Eyes (1998) 45 copies

Waiariki (1975) 28 copies

Small Holes in the Silence: Short Stories (2006) 28 copies

Electric City (1987) 25 copies

The Sky People (1994) 22 copies

Earth, Sea, Sky: Images And Maori Proverbs from the Natural World of Aotearoa New Zealand (2003) 21 copies

The Dream Sleepers (1980) 18 copies

Watercress tuna and the children of Champion Street (1892) 17 copies

Ned & Katina : a true love story (2009) 16 copies

Selected Stories (1991) 14 copies

Collected stories (1994) 12 copies

Wahine Toa: Women of Maori Myth (1984) 12 copies

Wellington: The City in Literature (Our City) (2003) 11 copies

From the Centre (2021) 11 copies

Haka (2015) 8 copies

The Trolley (1993) 6 copies

Areta and the Kahawai (1994) 6 copies

Ko Maraea me ngā toroa (2008) 4 copies

Sky People (2001) 4 copies

The Silent Migration: Ngati Poneke Young Maori Club, 1937-1948 (2006) 3 copies

Les enfants de Ngarua (LITTERATURE) (2008) 2 copies

Butterflies 2 copies

Le bataillon maori (LITTERATURE) (2010) 2 copies

Whiti te Rā! (2015) 2 copies

Ahakoa he iti (1985) 1 copy

Liberdade :Contos que Celebram a Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos (Portugiesisch) (2011) 1 copy

Bird child & other stories (2024) 1 copy

Bird Child and Other Stories 1 copy

Anapuke, Berg der Ahnen. 1 copy

Potila 1 copy

Potiki (2017) 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Sudden Fiction International: Sixty Short-Short Stories (1989) — Contributor — 213 copies

Rotten English: A Literary Anthology (2007) — Contributor — 75 copies

Freedom: Stories Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (2009) — Contributor — 73 copies

Some Other Country: New Zealand's Best Short Stories (1984) — Contributor — 72 copies

Pūrākau: Māori Myths Retold by Māori Writers (2019) — Contributor — 47 copies

The Picador Book of Contemporary New Zealand Fiction (1996) — Contributor — 32 copies

Women's Work: Contemporary Short Stories by New Zealand Women (1986) — Contributor — 26 copies

Without Reservation: Indigenous Erotica (2003) — Contributor — 25 copies

One World of Literature (1992) — Contributor — 24 copies

Coming of Age Around the World: A Multicultural Anthology (2007) — Contributor — 24 copies

The Flamingo Anthology of New Zealand Short Stories (2000) — Contributor — 21 copies

Skins: Contemporary Indigenous Writing (2000) — Contributor — 19 copies

Goodbye to Romance: Stories by New Zealand and Australian Women Writers, 1930-1988 (1989) — Contributor — 10 copies

New Zealand Love Stories: An Oxford Anthology (2000) — Contributor — 7 copies

In Deadly Earnest: A Collection of Fiction by New Zealand Women 1870s–1980s (1989) — Contributor — 7 copies

Monsters in the Garden : An Anthology of Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction and Fantasy (2021) — Contributor — 7 copies

Bosom Buddies: Women's Stories about Friendship, Love, and Life (2003) — Contributor — 6 copies

The Inward Sun: Celebrating the Life and Work of Janet Frame (1994) — Contributor — 6 copies

The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Short Stories (2009) — Contributor — 6 copies

The Penguin Book of New Zealand War Writing (2015) — Contributor — 4 copies

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Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Grace, Patricia
Legal name: Grace, Patricia Frances
Birthdate: 1937-08-17
Gender: female
Nationality: New Zealand
Birthplace: Wellington, New Zealand
Places of residence: Wellington, New Zealand
Plimmerton, New Zealand
Education: Victoria University of Wellington
St Mary's College, Wellington
Wellington Teachers' College
Occupations: novelist
short story writer
children's book author
teacher
Organizations: Coalition for Open Government
Awards and honors: Neustadt International Prize for Literature (2008)
Queens Service Order (1988)
Writing Fellow, Victoria University of Wellington (1985)
Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement (Fiction ∙ 2006)
New Zealand Order of Merit (Distinguished Companion, 2007)

Members

Reviews

Haka by Patricia Grace

Amazing illustrations and incredible story of how Te Rauparaha's haka was created.

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Mrs_Tapsell_Bookzone | Feb 14, 2023 |

Waiariki by Patricia Grace

An exceptionally beautiful and tender collection of short stories touching on Māori traditions and values in modern family and community settings.

I appreciated the efficiency of the storytelling; its efficacy in tackling themes of sacrifice, culture, displacement, respect, racism, whilst also allowing its characters to live buoyant and love-filled Māori lives; and the way Māori words were so naturally incorporated into the prose with no explanation. A great introduction to Māori-NZ literature.… (more)

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kitzyl | Feb 3, 2023 |

Potiki by Patricia Grace

78/2021. Potiki, by Patricia Grace, is a novel set in a Maori community in Aotearoa (New Zealand) about family, cultural and economic survival, and how all are linked to environmental caretaking.

A traditional Maori whānau community, the Tamihanas, and their way of life, already under pressure from generations of settler-colonialism, are threatened by ruthless developers who want their land. Their allies, other Maori, local people resisting change, and environmentalists, prove ineffectual against big business with government and the police on their side, but the Tamihanas have a deep-rooted connection to their homeland and their extended family which gives them strength. The story also effortlessly includes disabled family members as half the main point of view characters.

Quote: "She made her way along by the water's edge singing, sometimes talking as she went. Every now and again she would bend and pick something up. If it was something that either lived or could live - a crab, a shellfish or a weed - she threw it into the sea. If it was something that did not live and could not - paper, plastic or tin - she put it into her bucket to take home."… (more)

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spiralsheep | 7 other reviews | May 10, 2021 |

Potiki by Patricia Grace

A group of native New Zealanders survive on their land, some overcoming their alien educations and some fighting to regain territories taken from them ostensibly for a war time landing strip but never so used. A very internally told narrative, a woman, her husband, their children a few others.Their land is valued by external money makers, but they and their way of life are considered obstacles requiring them to persist in spite of what is brought to bear against them.

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quondame | 7 other reviews | Oct 3, 2020 |

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