Working at night on the set of Lord of the Rings, surrounded by Orcs, New Zealand writer/actor Geoff Allen had an epiphany about myths, legends and fairytales:

“I saw how stories moved around the world when their people moved. How they spoke about that culture - even when their people did not. It has set me on a journey of learning Te Reo and about Te Ao Maori; and learning about being Pakeha.”

Opening Devonport’s inaugural BiblioHub is the book launch of Fairies of Down Under and other Pakeha Fairy Tales by Geoff Allen, published by Makaro Press.

When European settlers sailed to the bottom

of the world, to Down Under,

they took with them: tools, seed, livestock

and their hope.

They did not take monsters.

Those crept aboard ... all by themselves.

Fairies of Down Under and Other Pākehā Fairy Tales is a collection of sixteen short stories, each set in New Zealand. Thirteen of the stories are in the north, four in the South Island; and one that takes you around our entire coastline in a single night. Together they create a journey you can make around the country, either in story or in reality. 

It is a book that has taken author Geoff Allan on his own personal journey – learning Te Reo, Te Ao Maori and learning about being Pakeha:

“The idea of asking the European fairies to tell us how they got to Aotearoa came one cold night while working on Lord of the Rings.  On the set of Helm’s Deep, I looked around and saw elves, dwarves and orcs chatting and fighting and suddenly had an epiphany - like a part of me had been rejoined; between the land that made me and the stories that had moved me.   

In 2016 I looked after my elderly mother for a year. After mum had gone to bed I’d work on the stories at the dinner table. Then often finish by doing a sketch to go with each one.

I have travelled thousands of miles around New Zealand researching these stories. Becoming a student of Te Reo was essential for this journey. The reo is the key to understanding more the world our ancestors and their fairies came to; Aotearoa. 

Ka mutu tōku kōrero mō ngā pūrākau ēnei.

tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.”

Please join Depot Artspace, publisher Makaro Press and Geoff Allen for a celebration of his new publication Fairies of Down Under and other Pakeha Fairy Tales. 

Geoff Allen’s original illustrations for the book will also be on display.

Friday, 28 September, 5.30 – 7pm at Depot Artspace, Devonport, Auckland.