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Fiction featuring Care Experience

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Auē

Becky Manawatu

2019

Auē (2019) by New Zealand writer Becky Manawatu begins with 8-year-old Arama being delivered to his new home with Aunt Kat and awful Uncle Stu.

It’s his 17-year-old brother, Taukiri, who is dropping Ari off.

Taukiri, we find out, is disappointed in himself because he's abandoned his brother. He, too, is grieving the loss of his parents, and is homeless. Auē—which is a Maori word meaning “to cry, howl, groan, wail, bawl”—is Becky Manawatu’s first novel. It has won several awards, including the 2020 Jann Medicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, and was New Zealand’s best selling novel in 2020 and 2021.

Children and young people in social care, and those who have left, are often subject to stigmatisation and discrimination. Being stigmatised and discriminated against can impact negatively on mental health and wellbeing not only during the care experience but often for many years after too. The project aims to contribute towards changing community attitudes towards care experienced people as a group. See glossary HERE


Website set up with support from The Welland Trust 

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