Courtney Sina Meredith (born 1986) is a poet, playwright, and short story author from New Zealand.
Background
Born in 1986, Meredith grew up in
Glen Innes and is of
Samoan,
Cook Island and Irish descent.
She attended Ponsonby Primary School, Ponsonby Intermediate School, and
Western Springs College
Western Springs College ( mi, Nga Puna O Waiorea) is a state co-educational secondary school located in Western Springs, an inner suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. The school educates approximately students, from Years 9 to 13 (ages 13 to 18). ...
, her mother
Kim Meredith
Kim or KIM may refer to:
Names
* Kim (given name)
* Kim (surname)
** Kim (Korean surname)
*** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties
**** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948
** Kim, Vietnamese fo ...
is also a poet.
Meredith studied English and Political Studies at the
University of Auckland
, mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work
, established = 1883; years ago
, endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021)
, budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021)
, chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant
, vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...
.
Career
Meredith's writing is often political, dealing with issues such as poverty, conflict, sexism and racism, and draws on her roots in the Samoan diaspora of Auckland.
Meredith's play ''Rushing Dolls'', was published in 2012 in the collection ''Urbanesia: Four Pasifika Plays.'' She has also published'' Brown Girls in Bright Red Lipstick,'' a book of poetry, and ''Tail of the Taniwha'', a collection of short stories and poetry. Her work has been translated into Italian, German, Dutch, French, Spanish and Bahasa Indonesia.
Work by Meredith has also been published in literary journals including ''
Poetry New Zealand
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...
,''
''What's Poetry?'' and ''Ika.''
Meredith has spoken at a number of book festivals including the
Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: Frankfurter Buchmesse, FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. It is considered to be the most important book fair in the world for internationa ...
,
the
Mexico City Poetry Festival
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, and
Edinburgh International Book Festival
The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place in the last three weeks of August every year in Charlotte Square in the centre of Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh. Billed as ''The largest festival of its k ...
.
Her children and young persons book ''The Adventures of Tupaia'' co-authored with Mat Tait came out in 2019 and is about
Tupaia, a navigator from Tahiti, who sailed to New Zealand with
Captain Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...
on board the ''Endeavour''. In 2021 the poetry book by Merideth ''Burst Kisses on the Actual Wind'' was published by
Beatnik Publishing
Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle.
History
In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the under ...
.
She is director of the Tautai Pacific Arts Trust in 2022 which is a leading Pacific arts organisation based on
Karangahape Road
Karangahape Road (commonly known as K' Road) is one of the main streets in the central business district (CBD) of Auckland, New Zealand. The massive expansion of motorways through the nearby inner city area – and subsequent flight of resident ...
in Auckland. She has also lectured, been a contributing editor for ''Paperboy'', worked at the
Auckland Council in Arts and Culture and Festival and Community Events teams, and partnerships manager at
Manukau Institute of Technology
Established in 1970, Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) ( mi, Te Whare Takiura o Manukau) is a large Category One institute of technology in Auckland, New Zealand.
Category One is the highest possible educational rating as evaluated by the ...
.
Awards
Meredith received a grant from
Creative New Zealand
The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets ...
to develop her collection of short stories, ''Tail of the Taniwha.''
In 2011, Meredith became the first writer of
Pasifika descent and first New Zealander to hold the LiteraturRaum
Blebitreu Berlin residency. In 2016 she was invited to participant in the
International Writing Program
The International Writing Program (IWP) is a writing residency for international artists in Iowa City, Iowa. Since 2014, the program offers online courses to many writers and poets around the world. Since its inception in 1967, the IWP has hosted o ...
at the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
.
Following this residency, she was writer in residence at the Island Institute in
Sitka, Alaska. She has also held a residency at the
Sylt Foundation
Sylt (; da, Sild; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the ...
.
In 2010, her play ''Rushing Dolls'' was the runner up for the
Adam NZ Play Award and won Best Play by a Woman Playwright. The same year it won the
Aotearoa Pasifika Play Competition.
In the 2013
PANZ Book Design Awards, ''Brown Girls in Bright Red Lipstick'' received a Highly Commended in the category of Hachette New Zealand Award for Best Non-Illustrated Book.
''Tail of the Taniwha'' was longlisted for the 2017
Ockham New Zealand Book Awards
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder W ...
for the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize.
In 2021 she was awarded the University of Auckland’s Young Alumna of the Year
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meredith, Courtney Sina
Living people
1986 births
New Zealand people of Samoan descent
University of Auckland alumni
New Zealand women short story writers
New Zealand women poets
New Zealand women dramatists and playwrights
21st-century New Zealand short story writers
21st-century New Zealand poets
21st-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights
21st-century New Zealand women writers