Iona Winter Explained

Iona Winter is a New Zealand writer specialising in hybrid fiction, poetry and short fiction.

Career

Winter is of Māori (Waitaha) and Pākehā descent, and holds a Master's degree in Creative Writing from the Auckland University of Technology (AUT).[1] After writing a novel as part of her master's study, she pivoted to writing flash fiction.[2] She cites Hone Tuwhare, Patricia Grace, Sam Hunt, James K Baxter and Witi Ihimaera as influences.[3]

Winter has served as poetry editor for the Otago Daily Times,[4] and in 2016 she was an International Cities of Literature guest reader at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.[5] [6]

Her first collection of stories and poems, and then the wind came, was published by Steele Roberts in 2018. Siobhan Harvey in The New Zealand Herald described it "a stunning book" with themes of nature, family and loss, confirming Winter "as a fresh, necessary voice, one we'll hear a lot more about in the future".[7]

Winter's second collection, Gaps in the Light, was published in 2021. Author Pip Adam described it as "the most amazing and transforming hybrid work" and said she had "never read anything quite like it".[8] Paula Green praised the work's treatment of grief; her review comments that Winter "is translating personal experience into hybrid writing and it is incredibly potent".[9]

Multi-disciplinary work

Winter's work has appeared on the fence of the Anteroom Art Gallery in Port Chalmers[4] and on a FIFA Women's World Cup mural in The Octagon, Ōtepoti Dunedin.[10] Her 2021 short fiction collection Gaps in The Light is available as a podcast via Otago Access Radio.[11] She contributed to 2020 Dunedin Fringe Festival show (a)version,[12] and has also made several video recordings of her work.[13]

Elixir & Star Press

Winter is also the founder and editor of Elixir & Star Press,[14] an independent press with a focus on grief.[15] In 2023 she ran a successful crowdfunding campaign to fund the publication of a liminal gathering: 2023 Elixir & Star Grief Almanac, the press's first publication.[16]

Advocacy

Winter's son, musician Reuben Winter (also known as Totems), died in 2020.[17] Winter has since advocated for the suicide bereaved[18] and raised awareness about suicide bereavement.

Winter is also an advocate for te reo Māori, and uses te reo in her work.[19]

Works

Awards

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: $25,000 CLNZ/NZSA Writers' Award awarded to Ōtepoti Writer and Poet Iona Winter . 2023-09-10 . www.copyright.co.nz.
  2. Web site: Is Flash enough? . 2023-09-08 . Kete Books . en-NZ.
  3. Web site: Writer . Kim- . 2019-03-07 . Writer Interview: Iona Winter . 2023-09-08 . K Jackways - Author . en-US.
  4. Web site: McKinlay . Tom . 2021-09-13 . The words that sparkle . 2023-09-08 . Otago Daily Times Online News . en.
  5. Web site: Latest happenings — Dunedin City of Literature . 2023-09-08 . www.cityofliterature.co.nz.
  6. News: Nightly Interview: Iona Winter . 11 September 2023 . Channel 39 . 8 August 2016 . en.
  7. News: Harvey . Siobhan . Siobhan Harvey poetry . 11 September 2023 . The New Zealand Herald . 9 March 2019 . E17.
  8. News: Adam . Pip . What I'm Reading . 11 September 2023 . Sunday Star-Times . 9 May 2021 . 24.
  9. Web site: Green . Paula . Poetry Shelf review: Iona Winter's gaps in the light . NZ Poetry Shelf . 11 September 2023 . 8 July 2021.
  10. Web site: Lewis . John . 2023-07-28 . Wet weather no match for mural with strong 'wahine vibes' . 2023-09-08 . Otago Daily Times Online News . en.
  11. Web site: Angelo-Laloli . Domi . 2021-06-29 . Gaps in the Light . 2023-09-08 . OAR FM Dunedin . en-US.
  12. Web site: Iona Winter and Victoria McIntosh - (a)version : Dunedin Fringe Festival . 2023-09-08 . www.dunedinfringe.nz . en.
  13. Web site: 2022-03-11 . iona winter . 2023-09-08 . NZ Poetry Shelf . en.
  14. Web site: Announcing the launch of Elixir & Star Press New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa . 2023-09-10 . en-US.
  15. A unique experience . New Zealand Author . Autumn 2023 . 332 . 23–25 . 12 September 2023.
  16. Web site: a liminal gathering . 2023-09-08 . a liminal gathering . en.
  17. Web site: Breslin . Liz . 2021-03-01 . A mother who counts the months . 2023-09-08 . Otago Daily Times Online News . en.
  18. Web site: 2022-09-28 . Iona Winter ~ At The Bay ~ I Te Kokoru . 2023-09-08 . en-NZ.
  19. Web site: 2016-08-08 . Nightly Interview: Iona Winter . 2023-09-08 . Channel 39 . en.
  20. Web site: 2021-02-22 . Gaps in the Light : Iona Winter . 2023-09-08 . Ad Hoc Fiction . en-GB.
  21. Web site: 2018-12-17 . then the wind came . 2023-09-08 . Steele Roberts Aotearoa . en-GB.
  22. Web site: NZ Society of Authors 2015 Mentorship Recipients Announced Scoop News . 2023-09-08 . www.scoop.co.nz.
  23. News: The Pursuit of Freedom . 11 September 2023 . Otago Daily Times . 28 January 2021 . en.
  24. Web site: Two Toikupu by Iona Winter . 2023-09-08 . Verb Wellington . en-NZ.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Iona Winter".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.