Novelist, short story writer, and children's author Patricia Grace was born in Wellington, New Zealand on August 17, 1937. She was a teacher in primary and secondary schools in Northland, Picton, and King County, New Zealand.
She is of Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa and Te Ati Awa descent and has been instrumental in the emergence of Maori fiction in English. Her first collection of stories, Waiariki, was published in 1975 and won the PEN/Hubert Church Award for Best First Book of Fiction. Her second novel, Potiki, won the fiction section of the New Zealand Book Awards in 1987. Her children's book, The Kuia and the Spider, was the winner of the Children's Picture Book of the Year award in 1982. Another children's book, The Trolley, won the Russell Clark Award in 1994. She also won the 2005 Deutz Medal for Fiction or Poetry for Tu. She was honored as a living icon of New Zealand art in 2005 and currently lives in Plimmerton, New Zealand. Her title Chappy made the New Zealand Bst Seller List in 2015.
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