Mere Whaanga facts for kids
Mere Whaanga is a talented writer, illustrator, and historian from New Zealand. She also does research and teaches at universities. She writes many kinds of books, including picture books that are in two languages (bilingual). She also writes history books and papers for conferences. Many of her books have won awards or been chosen as finalists for awards. Mere herself has received many awards, grants, and special writing opportunities. She lives in Māhia, a beautiful place in Hawke's Bay.
About Mere Whaanga
Mere Joslyn Whaanga was born on January 23, 1952, in Wairoa, which is in Hawke's Bay. She also sometimes uses the name Mere Whaanga-Schollum. She grew up on a sheep farm that was far away from towns, near Gisborne on the East Coast of New Zealand. She went to school at Hukarere Māori Girls' College and Gisborne Girls' High School.
After school, Mere had different jobs. She worked as a lab assistant and a sales representative. Later, she went back to school as an adult. She studied Te Reo Māori (the Māori language) at Tairawhiti Polytechnic in Gisborne from 1992 to 1993. She then earned a special diploma in Māori Development from Massey University in 1994. In 1999, she completed her master's degree in Māori Studies, also from Massey University. She also has a doctorate degree from the University of Waikato. Her doctorate research was about Māori land law.
Mere Whaanga writes many things. This includes history books, picture books in two languages, and articles for conferences. Her artwork has also been shown in art exhibitions in New Zealand and Australia.
She lives in Mahia and is from the Ngāti Rongomaiwahine and Ngāti Kahungunu Māori tribes.
Mere Whaanga has three children who are also artists. Their names are Miriama Reid, Desna Whaanga-Schollum, and Clem Whaanga-Schollum.
Awards and Special Recognition
Mere Whaanga's book, Tangaroa's Gift: Te Koha a Tangaroa (published in 1990), was a finalist for several awards in 1991. These included the AIM Children's Book Awards, the NZLA Russell Clark Award for its pictures, and the NZLA Esther Glen Award for its story. In 2011, Mere Whaanga also received the Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for Tangaroa's Gift. This award celebrates books that are loved by many people over time.
Her book, The singing dolphin: Te Aihe i Waiata, was a finalist in the Picture Book category of the 2017 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
A Carved Cloak for Tahu was a finalist in the History section of the Montana New Zealand Book Awards in 2005.
Mere Whaanga has received many other awards and grants. In 1988, she got the Choysa Bursary for Children's Writers. In 1991, she received the Te Ha Award for Māori Writers and a QEII Literary Fund Incentive Grant. She also got a Te Waka Toi New Work Grant in 2002. From 2001 to 2003, she had the Ministry of Culture and Heritage Fellowship in Māori History. In 2003, she received a New Zealand History Research Trust Fund Award.
Her knowledge has also been recognized by asking her to be a judge for important book awards. She was a judge for the Aim Children's Book Awards from 1993 to 1994. She also judged the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults from 1997 to 1998.
In 2015, she was given the Michael King Writers Centre Māori Writer's Residency. This allowed her to focus on writing a novel for adults. In 2017, she was the University of Otago College of Education / Creative New Zealand Children's Writer in Residence. This special role allowed her to work on children's books while being part of the university.
