On the Map 2013: Whiti HEREAKA (New Zealand)

"On the Map" is a series of interviews with writers while they are in Iowa City participating in the International Writing Program's fall residency. The series is produced by the IWP at the University of Iowa and is made possible by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Whiti HEREAKA (playwright, novelist, screenwriter; New Zealand) has written and produced eight plays for stage and radio, as well as the short film Unclaimed Luggage. Her debut novel The Graphologist's Apprentice was shortlisted for the 2011 First Book in the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Asia/Pacific region); her second novel, Bugs was published in 2013. She is a two-time winner of the Best New Play by a Maori Playwright. Her participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.