Whiti hereaka | HUIA PublishersThe story of Kurangaituku
Kurangaituku, written by Whiti Hereaka, reimagines the iwi story of Hatupatu and the Bird Woman from the perspective of Kurangaituku.
Creative thinking
The author’s brief and intention for this book were clear – this couldn’t be a conventional novel format. Kurangaituku has interwoven perspectives, telling the traditional story of Hatupatu through the eyes of the bird woman from multiple angles and demanded a structure that could carry the realms of te ao mārama (the world of light) and rarohenga (the underworld).
Creative doing
The book has two front covers – one side leaning more bird and the other more woman – meeting in the middle through the traditional story of Hatupatu with a reversible layout. The reader chooses which perspective of Kurangaituku they would like to meet first. We had to carefully consider how this would work with the barcode, blurb and other front book matter as well as the ebook. Typography indicates different voices and the poetic nature of the text.
Creative partners
Delivered in close collaboration with Huia Publishers' in-house editorial and production teams.
Cover illustrated by Rowan Heap.
Printed with Blue Star commercial printers.
The outcome
Winner of the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, 2022, winner of the Publishers Association of New Zealand Book Design Awards for Best Commercial book for Adults and nominated for Award for Best Cover design, 2022.
Purchase the book or learn more at HUIA Publishers.
