Haka salutes national writing contest winner

Te Kawana Mohi, left, Alisha Tyson, centre, and Kathryn Bryant. Picture / Paul Estcourt

When Te Kawana Mohi's name was read out as a winner in a national writing competition, her koro (grandfather), who had filled her with his own stories, stood and did a haka in honour of hers.

Te Kawana's story, Te Haerenga ki Ruatoki [The Journey to Ruatoki], was the first te reo story to be an overall national winner in the Write Around New Zealand creative writing competition for Year 7 and 8 students.

She was the joint Year 8 winner with Alisha Tyson, of Raroa Normal Intermediate School, whose story Heroine was about a girl pushed to suicide by being labelled useless and worthless by others.

The Year 7 winner was Kathryn Bryant, of Maidstone Intermediate in Upper Hutt, who wrote Memories, a story of an old woman flicking through her photo album.

The competition, now in its fifth year and sponsored by Nestle, had a record 14,000 entries.

Te Kawana, from Rotorua's Te Kura o Te Koutu, drew on personal experience for her story of a young city boy's trip to find his roots in Ruatoki.

"My koro [Brian Ngata McLean] always went on about how his tupuna used to live, and I used to sit there and listen to what he said and then put it on paper."

Her approach is simple: "It's not hard. I'm only expressing my feelings and what I've observed."

Alisha's story Heroine was a darker piece, which she said was written "because I was really having a bad day". It was partly inspired by Missy Higgins' song The River.

Alisha said she enjoys the darker, more depressing stories "because they stay with you".

"Stories that are happy end and you think 'Oh, that's lovely' but that's it. The darker ones, they stay with you and reflect on you, because life is not hunky-dory and fun. It's dark, and lots of bad things happen in the world. I like stories that show that."

The 13-year-old was a late convert to reading and writing - she rarely read until she "found refuge" in the Harry Potter books three years ago. Now she is about to tackle Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, and she wants to be an author.

Kathryn O'Bryant said she wrote a lot of poetry, but it was her first entry in a writing competition.

"I read the other stories and thought there was no way I was going to win this. I love writing poems and short stories but usually about animals, so this was a bit different.

"I get ideas now and then and don't normally write them down, but I thought this one was good."

She said she wanted to be a journalist.

Prizes worth more than $60,000 were handed out at the presentation at Auckland City Library yesterday, including packs of New Zealand books to finalists and books and computer packages to the three winners. 
  

OPENING PARAGRAPHS FROM EACH WINNER:

Te Haerenga ki Ruatoki, by Te Kawana Mohi, Year 8 joint winner:

"Ka mau tonu ki taku ngakau nga korero o toku koroua.

"Tuhoe kai kiore"

I whakamarama mai toku koroua i enei korero ki ahua, i mua i tona matenga atu.

Heroine, by Alisha Tyson, Year 8 joint winner:

The deep blue surface of the river rippled as a gentle breeze tickled its skin. Ancient willows stood crooked and gnarled alongside its banks, their rustling giving a melancholy air to the otherwise peaceful night. Silence fell as the creatures of the day retired for a well-deserved rest.

Memories, by Kathryn Bryant, Year 7 winner:

The dry leather book creaked as it opened on its hinges. Dust swirled everywhere. The old lady did not care. She sat in her armchair, wrinkled and grey. She smiled at the first page. It contained a faded black and white photo of a wiggly young baby, staring intently into the camera. Chuckling gently, she remembered the story her mother had told her long ago.

Full versions of winners and finalists stories will be on the website below from Friday November 25.