Mary-Anne Stone of Bookenz reviews Short | Poto edited by Michelle Elvy and Kiri Piahana-Wong:
‘Short/Poto is a bilingual anthology of 100 flash fiction pieces by many of Aotearoa’s finest writers, presented in both English and te reo Māori. An ambitious, timely and beautifully realised concept. The brainchild of editor Michelle Elvy, lovingly brought to fruition with her editing partner Kiri Piahana-Wong.
Michelle can also take a large measure of the credit for Aotearoa’s National Flash Fiction Day competition. She is passionate about a kind of ‘meta’ flash genre. In a recent interview on the Bookenz podcast she describes the creative focus and freedom that a 300 word limit imposes; “using language deliberately and with craft, so that few words create maximum impact…With lines blurred across prose poetry, flash and creative non-fiction.”
One part of her vision for this anthology was a book that would be a celebration of both the narrative and lyrical scope of Flash, and of the diversity and talent of NZ writers/kaituhi. It achieves both things. Many well known, highly acclaimed writers feature, along with pieces submitted by new and emerging voices. There is ethnic diversity reflecting contemporary Aotearoa and the writing is every bit as stylistically diverse and rich. The brevity makes each piece a meditation.
Elevating this purpose further, to achieve a second ambition, the book is produced with each piece in english and te reo side by side, kanohi ki te kanohi. Creating an invaluable resource for Maori language learners (and one that equally could support immersion te reo study of creative writing).
A few pieces were authored in te reo, and then translated, but the majority were submitted in English. When asked if, as editors, they were aware of any apparent shared cultural identify in the pieces authored in either language, editor Piahana-Wong is captivating. “No. What we were aware of, and aiming for, was the diversity. I think that our national cultural identity is revealed as a collective of voices.”
That insight, and the much greater number of submissions authored in English, guided a decision to present all pieces in the same way - English first, te reo facing. And simply, but unconventionally, ordered alphabetically by the first name of the kaituhi.’
Read the rest of the review here.
