Tail of the Taniwha

19 August 2016
Courtney Sina Meredith

Arts graduate Courtney Sina Meredith has released her first collection of short stories.

Tail of the Taniwha builds on the themes and ideas of her signature publications, Brown Girls in Bright Red Lipstick and the award-winning play, Rushing Dolls.

These new short stories advance, with an underlying Pacific politique, an ongoing discussion of the contemporary urban experience and what it means to be culturally sensitive in contrast of the general understandings of mainstream society.

Courtney completed a Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Studies* and is now an award-winning writer, poet and playwright.

“While I was an English major at the University of Auckland I was introduced to the work of some of my favourite writers, such as Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, Charles Olson and Lloyd Jones. My minor in Political Studies* opened up a new world to me, a world where I was encouraged to challenge power structures and speak my mind.”

“This combination was explosive and gave me the confidence to carve out a path for myself with knowledge of what had come before me and the vision to imagine a bold future for myself.”

She was the first New Zealander and first writer of Pacific descent to hold the LiteraturRaum Blebitreu Berlin residency in 2011, and is an invited participant in the 2016 University of Iowa International Writing Program Fall Residency.

Her poetry and prose have been translated into Italian, German, Dutch, French, Spanish and Bahasa Indonesia.

Tail of the Taniwha is based in Auckland and abroad, and it is an immense privilege to be able to share my stories — as those stories are grounded in my community and the people and cultures that I come from.”

Courtney says that her Arts study played an important part in her journey as a writer, and she maintains a strong connection to the community that she built during her studies.

“I am still under the great wings of the Faculty of Arts — Dr Paula Morris launched my new book of short stories and I continue to have close bonds with other lecturers and students.”

“I treasure their continued support of my craft and international pursuits.”


Find out more about Tail of the Taniwha

 

*Now called Politics and International Relations