“It’s set in the present, but with archaic buildings, and a backpacker arrives in a piazza in Italy during the off-season. He is alone, with little money, and night is falling. When he approaches the only place open to ask for a bed, he is brutally rejected and there is a violent, confrontational response.”
Although this is his first short story, Duncan began writing when he travelled outside Aotearoa in 1997.
“When I started writing this story, it seemed to just roll onto the page - the images, characters and events are familiar,” he says. “I wrote it down maybe three or four times in English and twice in te reo Māori.”
He says writing in te reo Māori felt natural - like he was accessing some sort of imaginative main artery.
“Sometimes when you write in te reo Māori, you reach for a word and it might not fit, but in this story, I felt like the words came out quite nicely.”
“It has an imaginative quality to it, and you feel like you were there. When I read it, I can feel my heart beating a bit faster.”
The stories submitted in the Māori language section were judged by Stacey Morrison (Te Arawa, Ngāi Tahu), and she commented on Duncan’s story, saying: “A short story that takes the reader on an eventful journey, skillfully told and unexpected. He iti te kupu, nui te kōrero. He pārekareka ki ngā karu o te kaipānui.”
The Te Tauihu Short Story Awards attracted entries from established writers nationwide.
First place in the Māori section went to Emma Pepene for Te Arotake Oranga.
