Author Q&A: The Grandmothers of Pikitea Street

Just in time for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, author Renisa Viraj Maki is releasing her first children's book, The Grandmothers of Pikitea Street (Ngā Kuia o te Tiriti o Pikitea). Telling the stories of Māori, Ethiopian, Samoan, NZ European, Indian and Chinese grandmothers sharing traditional stories, Maki's book includes a te reo translation by Kanapu Rangitauira.

Tell me a bit about yourself – what’s your background and what prompted your journey to becoming an author?

Originally studying Art History, I worked in academia and at various international galleries alongside being an artist. I transitioned to a corporate career and have spent the last six years working in the Leadership Consulting and Human Capital arena. My focus is on Diversity and Inclusion, and this passion coupled with my previous creative background prompted me to become an author. There is a veritable gap in children’s literature representing characters from diverse backgrounds, and I wished to help bridge this gap. 

Author Renisa Viraj Maki wanted to bridge a gap she saw in children's literature and wrote her own book to do so. Image: Supplied

Tell me a little bit about The Grandmothers of Pikitea Street.

Respectful of Aotearoa and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, this book is bilingual in te reo Māori and celebrates the tikanga values of manaakitanga and whakawhanaungatanga. Set in a fictional neighbourhood of Auckland, the families on Pikitea Street hail from different ethnic backgrounds including Indian, Chinese, Samoan, Ethiopian, Pākehā and iwi.

The story gives you a glimpse into each household as the grandmothers tuck the children into bed with stories, proverbs or lessons from their respective cultures, and prepare lunchboxes for school filled with delicious traditional cuisine. The story emphasises how there is much we share in common across humanity, through storytelling and food - and the love of our grandmothers. This is a heartwarming story of kai and kōrero with kuia that promotes tolerance of other cultures and celebrates multicultural friendships.

The illustrations help bring the story to life, with mouthwatering details of food and cultural symbols. Seeing the bindi and bangles on the Indian ‘Nani’ character, alongside a typical Indian ‘tiffin’ lunchbox, made my heart swell with pride. It is not often we get to see Asian characters in New Zealand books, let alone two on the front cover - celebrating our multicultural community. 

The Grandmothers of Pikitea Street releases on September 8. Image: Supplied

Where did the inspiration for The Grandmothers of Pikitea Street come from?

The original story draft centred around lunchbox themes, encouraging children in school to be more welcoming of different types of cultural food. However, in my role as a Leadership Consultant, I met a Board Director who bravely shared with me the story of how his grandmother raised him and shaped him into becoming the strong iwi leader that he is today. I realised that telling the story through the lens of a grandmother’s love, often shown through similar behaviours across different cultures, would help cement the themes of the book. 

What are your hopes for this book? And what message do you want to send?

I hope young readers, alongside those who read the book with them, connect to this story and see the beauty of multicultural society. Aotearoa is home to many diverse peoples, and we can all learn from the tikanga Māori values of manaakitanga to better welcome people into the fabric of our society. There is still a long way to go towards weaving our different threads together, and I hope stories like this warm people's hearts to our shared human experiences. After all, who doesn’t love a hug from grandma or sharing delicious food?

You mention how as an Indian immigrant, you’ve struggled to find stories celebrating multicultural societies – could you recommend any other authors that you have seen or admired working in this space?

It has been excellent to see the growth of diverse storytelling in recent years, but as an Indian immigrant myself, I kept seeking out stories that celebrated the multicultural experience. There weren’t many to be found, sadly, and this inspired me to write a story of immigrants and locals that connects the shared human experiences across cultures. That said, I do recommend the website ‘The Conscious Kid’ which promotes similar books - the organisation’s Instagram account has 2 million followers, which is promising about the appetite for diverse children’s literature. I also wrote a blog post in 2021 sharing recommendations of diverse children’s books with a South East Asian flavour. 

Do you have any plans for future children's books?

Absolutely - there are a plethora of Diversity and Inclusion themes and angles to explore and expand upon. I am already drafting a couple of stories. 

The Grandmothers of Pikitea Street | Ngā Kuia o te Tiriti o Pikitea by Renisa Viraj Maki, illustrations by Nikki Slade Robinson, nā Kanapu Rangitauira i whakamāori, published by Oratia Books, RRP $22.99