CHB author Helen Waaka shortlisted for the 2023 Michael Gifkins Prize for an Unpublished Novel

Helen Waaka says she is “stunned and grateful” to be shortlisted for a Michael Gifkins Prize.

CHB writer Helen Waaka says she’s “a bit stunned” after finding out her as-yet-unpublished novel I Am the River is shortlisted for the 2023 Michael Gifkins Prize.

“I’m also grateful. Writing a novel is a lot of hard mahi, and writers are never quite sure if anyone will ever want to read what they’ve written, so being shortlisted in the Michael Gifkins competition is reassuring and gives me hope that readers just might be interested,” says Helen.

The shortlist was revealed last week by Text Publishing and the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (Pen NZ Inc), with a representative saying, “Five excellent manuscripts by New Zealand writers have been shortlisted for this year’s prize.”

The five were chosen by Text Publishing from a longlist of 15 high-quality manuscripts selected by writer and editor Michelle Elvy and the inaugural Michael Gifkins Prize winner, Ruby Porter, which they said were a strong and surprising collection of manuscripts that delighted with each re-reading.

“We applaud the writers who submitted — it is no small feat to finish a manuscript and enter it into a competition. And we applaud the writers for the quality and depth of their submissions,” they said.

Helen’s manuscript, I Am the River, is a sequel to her collection of interconnected short stories, Waitapu, which was a finalist in the 2016 Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards. It is the story of a family, examining the intergenerational trauma of family violence, but also hope, belonging and whānau reconnection.

Helen was awarded a Michael King Emerging Māori Writer’s Residency in 2018 and gained an NZSA manuscript assessment in 2021 to help advance her work. She won the Pikihuia short story competition in 2015 and her stories have appeared in several Huia short story collections.

Helen says she only became serious about her writing in her early 50s, after enrolling in a few short creative writing courses and “becoming hooked.”

“I realised I’d been making up stories in my head for years, and writing accessed these stories and brought them to life.

“Writing is a way of working things out. Big life issues. You discover things when you write, and for me that’s the exciting part. There’s a story in everything. I’m working on a short story at the moment for a competition centred around a supermarket!”

Helen says writing is not for everyone.

“There’s a lot of discipline and sacrifice involved, and for me, whānau will always take precedence, but other commitments like work and life events make it all a bit of a juggle at times.

“It’s encouraging to have your writing recognised and makes all the hard work worth it. I don’t think for a minute I’ll win with other such talented writers on the shortlist, but I hope being shortlisted means I Am the River will have a better chance of being picked up by a publisher.”

The winner will be announced in July. The author of the winning manuscript will receive a contract for world rights from Text, along with an advance of $10,000.

The other shortlisted novels are How to Stop a River by G. M. Allen; A Foundling’s Sin by Jane Bitomsky; Dolores by Danielle Heyhoe and My Rose by Tina Shaw.

Other past winners of the Gifkins Prize are Tom Remiger, Gigi Fenster, Tom Baragwanath and, most recently, Emma Ling Sidnam, whose debut novel, Backwaters, will be published in September 2023.

The Michael Gifkins Prize is made possible by a financial commitment from the Gifkins family and from Text Publishing. It is administered by the NZ Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc).