Paula Morris (Ngati Wai) is the author of the story collection Forbidden Cities (2008); the essay On Coming Home (2015); and seven novels, including Rangatira (2011), fiction winner at both the 2012 New Zealand Post Book Awards and Nga Kupu Ora Maori Book Awards, and teaches creative writing at the University of Auckland.

She talks to The Big Idea ahead of her appearance at WOMAD NZ, in the World of Words programme. 

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?

Just doing work: it’s the mahi that’s the thing.

Tell us a bit about your background...

Years of travelling and living overseas, working in the music business in London and New York, writing and teaching in Iowa City, New Orleans, Glasgow, Sheffield … then home to Auckland two years ago. I teach creative writing at the University of Auckland and recently founded the Academy of NZ Literature (www.anzliterature.com).  

Tell us about your recent work On Coming Home, about – among other things – writers in exile and New Zealanders who wander.

It explores the predicament many of us face: the lure of other places, and the tug of home. Many writers must – or choose to – work elsewhere. I did, for decades. Is coming home the right thing to do?

What are some of your other upcoming projects?

A novel called Yellow Palace, a sort of psychological thriller about New Zealanders in Europe. A short story collection called False River. A new creative nonfiction project called Manuhuri : Strangers exploring family history and our ties to Hauturu (Little Barrier Island).

Why did you want to be part of the World of Words at Womad?

Music and books are often presented and discussed separately, when so many of us are passionate about both. We all need to find new audiences and new stimulation.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?

Start. Keep going.

What are some of the current challenges and opportunities in the creative sector?

Sometimes NZ is still too anti-intellectual and not ambitious or brazen enough. But there are huge opportunities if you think big, don’t take no for an answer, and find ways to make things happen.

Who or what has inspired you recently?

My weaving teacher Hazel Grace at Te Wananga o Aotearoa in Mangere. She has vast knowledge and even vaster patience. Every time she says, ‘ka pai, you!’, I keep going.

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?

Less haste. My chiropractor wrote it on a card to keep with me. I rush everywhere.

What’s your big idea for 2017?

A project called ‘A Thousand and One Nights … in Auckland’ in which South Auckland young writers re-tell stories from the Arabian Nights set now, and in their neighbourhoods. Watch for our big event at the Auckland Writers Festival, and a web site launching in June.

Paula Morris is part of WOMAD NZ World of Words programme, where Suzette Goldmith will talk to her about her latest work On Coming Home, about New Zealand writers in exile and the state of creative non-fiction.