New short story collection written entirely in te reo Māori

Waka Aroha: He kohinga pakipoto, a collection of 15 short stories, celebrates storytelling in te reo Māori, spanning police procedurals, family dramas, magical realism, social commentary and coming-of-age stories.

Written for intermediate-level learners through to fluent speakers, the collection gives readers a chance to immerse themselves in contemporary stories while strengthening their reo.

The book lands on bookshelves nationwide on Thursday 10 September, with the official launch on 14 September at the University’s Waipapa Marae, the beginning of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.

Middleton (Waikato, Pākehā) says the timing of the launch reflects the kaupapa behind the book.

“Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori is a week to celebrate te reo Māori and to add something new to the resources available for learners,” she says.

At around 50,000 words, Waka Aroha is a contribution to contemporary te reo Māori literature, and one Middleton hopes will reach people wherever they are on their reo journey.

She deliberately kept the collection varied, giving readers different genres, voices and styles to choose from.

“I’ve tried to keep the stories as varied as possible, with different themes and genres that readers can connect with. In the 15 stories, there is everything from police procedurals and magical realism to social commentary.”

“Because there is so little contemporary fiction available in te reo Māori, I wanted to explore as many different genres and themes as possible.”

One of Middleton’s favourite stories is ‘He iti nā te aroha', inspired by her response to the extent of child poverty and homelessness in Aotearoa.

It initially appears to be a simple bedtime scene between a mother and daughter, singing and laughing in front of a mirror. As the story unfolds, however, the reader realises they are preparing for bed in a public toilet in a car park and are sleeping in their car.

The story grew out of Middleton’s anger at what she was seeing in Aotearoa.

“I was deeply angered when I learned the extent of child poverty and homelessness in the country, and that emotion found its way into the story. I remain angry about it.”

“The story almost wrote itself. It was carried by the emotion I felt about what was happening.”

The story is one example of how Middleton uses fiction to engage with contemporary Aotearoa while experimenting with voice, structure and the possibilities of short-form storytelling.

But another story in the collection is much closer to home.

Waka Aroha, the collection’s final story and namesake, follows a teenager in the 1960s and his adventures with fast cars.

It is inspired by Middleton’s father Ron, who was “car-mad”, and the stories he told her.

Although the story is fictional, Middleton drew on details she had recorded from her father before he died – including the cars he owned and the storiessurrounding them.

“It is a memorial to my father and the stories he told me. I wanted to capture the colour and richness of his storytelling.”

The two stories represent different sides of what Waka Aroha means to Middleton: one born from anger and concern about the country she lives in, the other from love and memory.

“I think those two are particularly meaningful to me, for very different reasons.”

While the collection deals with adult themes and contemporary issues, Middleton has deliberately made the language accessible to intermediate-level learners through to fluent speakers.

As someone who learned te reo Māori at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland in the mid-1990s, she drew on her own experience as a learner. Her goal was to reduce what she describes as the “cognitive load” of decoding meaning during reading, allowing learners to concentrate on the story.

“The aim is for people to simply enjoy reading and engaging with the story. I’m trying to make the path as easy as possible.”

“There’s a lot of dialogue too, so readers can see how the language is used naturally.”

Middleton was struck by the fact that, despite the growth of te reo Māori, there had apparently never been a sole-authored collection of short stories written entirely in the language.

“This is apparently the first sole-authored collection of short stories written entirely in te reo Māori. Part of me wonders why we have had to wait until 2026 for a book like this.”

Waka Aroha is her contribution to that momentum – a collection that carries contemporary stories, family memories and social commentary into te reo Māori, while opening the door for a new generation of readers.

Middleton hopes the book might eventually find its way onto course reading lists, but her ambition for it is ultimately more personal.

“I hope everybody will enjoy the whole book and find at least one of the 15 stories that sticks with them.”