Tina was born in Kawakawa and was educated at Takapuna Grammar. She went on to study at Massey University where she graduated with a B.A. She currently lives in Canada and has two daughters.
"Tina's newest short story, ‘Black Milk’, recently won the Pacific Regional Commonwealth Short Story Prize (2016). Her first novel, Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings (Vintage, 2014) has been described as ‘a remarkable [book that] spans generations of Moriori, Māori and Pākehā descendants as they grapple with a legacy of pacifism, violent domination and cross-cultural dilemmas.’ It was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award and won the 2014 Ngā Kupu Ora Aotearoa Māori Book Award for Fiction, also won by her short story collection, Once Upon a Time in Aotearoa (Huia, 2011). In 2009 Tina was the recipient of the Royal Society of New Zealand Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing (Non-fiction) and the Pikihuia Award for Best Short Story Written in English. She has been writer in residence at Randell Cottage, Wellington, and the Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt. Makereti has a PhD Creative Writing from Victoria University, and is Curator Māori at Museums Wellington. In 2014 she convened the first Māori & Pasifika Writing Workshop at the IIML - Te Hīringa a Tuhi (applicants welcome). She is of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Ati Awa, Ngāti Rangatahi, Pākehā and, according to family stories, Moriori descent. She now lives on the Kāpiti Coast with her partner, daughters, unruly dog and two chickens."
Biographical sources
- Phone conversations with Ravelle Jaggard, 28 and 29 March, 2004.
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http://www.tinamakereti.com/ 12 September 2016
Biography
- "Gods and ghosts." Hue & cry journal (2010): 98-101.
Fiction
- "In the end." J.A.A.M (2009): 157-165.
- Once upon a time in Aotearoa. Wellington, N.Z.: Huia, 2010.
- "Shapeshifter." Tales for Canterbury : an anthology of short stories. Ed. Cassie Hart and Anna Caro. Wellington, N.Z. : Random Static, 2011.
- "Skin and bones." Slightly peculiar love stories. Dunedin, N.Z.: Rosa Mira Books, 2011.
- "What men do." The elephant in the living room : a conversation about alcohol. Ed. Shona Jaunas. Paraparaumu Beach, N.Z. : Kapiti Safer Community Trust, 2011
- "Gravity." Hue & cry journal (2011): 84-89
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- "An Englishman, an Irishman and a Welshman walk into a Pā." Sport (2012): 5-20.
- Where the Rēkohu bone sings. Auckland, N.Z.: Vintage, 2014.
- Five dials. Number 32, New Zealand. London: Hamish Hamilton, 2014
- "Frau Amsel's cupboard." Sport, Wellington, N.Z. (2014): 198-207.
- "Monster." Overland. 219 (2015).
Non-fiction
- "Māori Representation in Parliament and Tino Rangātiratanga." He Pukenga Kōrero: A Journal of Māori Studies 2.1 (1996): 62-72.
- "Twitch." New Zealand listener, 222.3637 (23 Jan 2010).
- "Alternative wisdom." Water & atmosphere (Nov 2012): 24-27.
- Co-authors Dave Hansford.
- "He taonga te Reo : how ngā Kupu Māori contribute to New Zealand writing in english." Tell you what : great New Zealand nonfiction 2015. Ed. Jolisa Gracewood and Susanna Andrew. Auckland, N.Z.: Auckland University Press, 2014.
- Extraordinary anywhere : essays on place from Aotearoa New Zealand. Ed. Ingrid Horrocks and Cherie Lacey. Wellington, N.Z.: Victoria University Press, 2016.
- "This collection of personal essays, a first of its kind, re-imagines the idea of place for an emerging generation of readers and writers. It offers glimpses into where we are now and how that feels, and opens up the range and kinds of stories we can conceive of telling about living here. Contributors include Tony Ballantyne, Sally Blundell, Alex Calder, Annabel Cooper, Tim Corballis, Martin Edmond, Ingrid Horrocks, Lynn Jenner, Cherie Lacey, Tina Makereti, Harry Ricketts, Jack Ross, Alice Te Punga Somerville, Giovanni Tiso, Ian Wedde, Lydia Wevers, and Ashleigh Young"--Publisher's information.
Other
- "Taonga." Metro (Jan/Feb 2012): 98-99.
Poetry
- "Grieving Nan." Bravado (Jul 2007): 6.
Reviews
- "Taonga." Metro (Jan/Feb 2012): 98-99.
- "Genesis of a Māori writer." New Zealand books, 25.2 (Win 2015): 3-4.