Chris Reed reviews Short | Poto edited by Michelle Elvy and Kiri Piahana-Wong for NZ Booklovers:
‘Short | Poto: The Big Book of Small Stories – Iti te kupu, nui te kōrero is a vibrant and vital addition to Aotearoa New Zealand’s literary landscape. Edited by Michelle Elvy and Kiri Piahana-Wong, this bilingual anthology gathers 100 works of flash fiction and microfiction, each a self-contained world told in fewer than 300 words. That constraint proves no barrier to depth; rather, it serves as a catalyst for clarity, resonance, and emotional punch.
The breadth of voices is one of this anthology’s great strengths. Featuring both established and emerging writers, the collection spans genres, tones, and settings from the intimately domestic to the wildly imaginative. Each piece is paired with a te reo Māori translation (or, in some cases, originated in te reo and is translated into English), making the book not only a literary accomplishment but a cultural one. Translators include some of the country’s most respected Māori language advocates, and their work imbues each story with renewed meaning and mana. Elvy and Piahana-Wong both add that their wishes that this will enhance the reading experience, and assist with the growth of te reo as a national language.
Reading Short | Poto is an exercise in precision and perspective. These stories demand careful attention and reward slow, deliberate engagement. The form allows readers to pause, reflect, and return - finding something new each time. The dual-language structure encourages a richer, more inclusive reading experience, where te ao Māori and te ao Pākehā sit alongside one another in harmony and tension.
Thematically, the stories are as varied as the contributors themselves. Grief, joy, memory, love, climate, and cultural identity all appear, and often within a single paragraph. This is literature distilled to its purest form, where every word matters and silence carries as much weight as speech.’
Read the rest of the review here.
