Young, Lani Wendt

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Young, Lani Wendt (1973–) is an award-winning writer, publisher and journalist of Samoan and Māori descent.

In February 2019 she was named a recipient of a Waitangi Day Literary Honour by the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc).In 2018 she was the ACP Pacific Laureate selected by the African, Caribbean, Pacific Group of States as they paid tribute to her ‘creativity, courage and entrepreneurship.’

Born and raised in Samoa, she attended university in the USA and New Zealand. Storytelling is her passion. She is the author of 11 books and has won multiple awards for her short fiction. She’s worked as a scriptwriter for Disney, and her stories for children are published by the NZ School Journal.

She was the 2018 recipient of the Douglas Gabb Australia-Pacific Journalism internship and in 2017 her reporting on climate change issues in the Pacific won her a coveted fellowship award to the UN Climate Conference in Bonn, Germany. In 2012 she won the USP Press Prize with her collection of short fiction, Afakasi Woman.

Lani writes columns about feminism, religion, culture, parenting, climate justice and everything in between. Her essay on A Samoan Woman’s Perspective on Ordain Women features in the Oxford Univ Press 2015 collection Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings. Her writing on child sexual abuse and domestic violence in Pasifika communities has generated dialogue in many forums worldwide.

Her work is described as ‘witty, ironic and delicious, flavored with poetic descriptions; garnished with intense passion; coated in the relaxed atmosphere of the Samoan archipelago’ (Tales from Pasifika, April 2015).

In 2019, Lani delivered the annual Book Council Lecture: Stories from the Wild: Reading and Writing in the Digital Age. Her talk was widely covered in the New Zealand media, and the published lecture is available for download here.

In 2020, Afakasi Woman (OneTree House) was shortlisted for New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

MEDIA LINKS AND CLIPS

• Lani Wendt Young’s blog, Sleepless In Samoa
• Lani Wendt Young’s website
• A review and critique of the representation of Spirit Women (‘Aitu’) in Teles

  ā

  by Vaimasenu’u Zita Martel on YouTube

• A poetic review of Telesā, written and performed by Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh for Teles

  ā's

  launch (13 December 2011, AUT, Manukau Campus, Auckland)

• An interview with Lani Wendt Young on the TVNZ Good Morning Show on 27 September 2012, about the Pacific tsunami book and the importance of sharing and recording our stories
• ‘Pacific Books get Youngsters Reading’ by Vaimoana Tapaleao (NZ Herald, 2 Apr 2013)
• Lani Wendt Young interviewed by Geraldine Coutts on Radio Australia (‘Samoan Writer launches Pacific Teen Romance Series’ . Radio Australia, 29 November 2011)
• ‘Samoan Author Lani Wendt Young on Hawaii, Books, Motherhood and Literacy’ by Tina Mata’afa-Tufele (Tautalatala Media, Hawaii, November 2013)
• Q & A with Lani Wendt Young on the Bone Bearer book tour by Lani Momoisea (‘Lani Says’, Auckland, 15 August, 2013)
• Lani Wendt Young on Twitter: @laniwendtyoung
• Lani Wendt Young on Facebook: #LaniWendtYoung
• Lani Wendt Young on YouTube: LaniWendtYoung
• An article by SUGA Magazine on The Scarlet series
• The Sapling review of the Telesā series, by Catherine Woulfe
• Teachers Notes for Telesa
  

Updated January 2017.