Kelly Ana Morey

Kelly Ana Morey
Born1968 (1968)
Kaitaia, New Zealand
Died (aged 57)
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • poet
LanguageEnglish
Alma materUniversity of Auckland
GenreFiction
Notable works
  • Bloom
  • Grace is Gone
Notable awardsNZSA Hubert Church Best First Book Award

Kelly Ana Morey (1968 – 1 September 2025) was a New Zealand novelist and poet.

Background

Born in Kaitaia in 1968, Morey was of Ngāti Kurī, Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Jewish and Pākehā descent. The family moved to Papua New Guinea in 1971 and Morey grew up there.[1][2] She referenced Papua New Guinea in her fourth novel, Quinine.[3] At the age of 12, Morey returned to New Zealand to board at New Plymouth Girls’ High School.

In 1997, Morey was accepted into a creative writing class taught by Witi Ihimaera and Albert Wendt. Her story ‘Māori Bread’ was published in the anthology 100 New Zealand Short Short Stories (Tandem).[1]

Morey received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, a Master of Arts in contemporary Māori art, an MALit, (Master of Arts in Literature) and was pursuing a PhD.[4][5]

Morey lived in Kaipara. She died on 1 September 2025, at the age of 57.[6]

Publications

Fiction

Novels by Morey include:

  • Bloom (2003, Penguin)
  • Grace is Gone (2005, Penguin)
  • On an Island, with Consequences Dire (2007, Penguin)
  • Quinine (2010, Huia)
  • Daylight Second (2016, HarperCollins)

Short stories and poems by Morey have been included in 100 Short, Short Stories,[7] anthologies of Māori writing by Huia Publishers,[4] Whetu Moana: Contemporary Polynesian Poetry in English,[8] and Puna Wai Korer: An Anthology of Maori Poetry in English.[9]

Non-fiction

Morey served as an oral historian at the Royal New Zealand Navy Museum from 2002.[4] She was the author of Service to the Sea, a non-fiction work about the Royal New Zealand Navy's history.[10]

Morey published How to Read a Book in 2005, a reflection on books that have influenced her life and writing.[11] In 2013, she documented the history of St Cuthbert's College in St Cuthbert’s College 100 Years,[12] She was also contributor to The Spinoff[13] and the equestrian magazine Show Circuit.[9]

Awards

Bloom won the 2004 NZSA Hubert Church Best First Book Award for Fiction at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards.[14] Grace is Gone was a finalist for the Kiriyama Prize for fiction.[1][2] She was the winner of the 2005 Janet Frame Award for Fiction.[15]

In 2003, Morey received the Todd Young Writers’ Bursary.[4] In 2014 she received the Māori Writer's Residency at the Michael King Writers Centre during which time she developed her novel Daylight Second.[16][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Kelly Ana Morey". Academy of New Zealand Literature. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Kelly Ana Morey". New Zealand Book Council. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Kelly Ana Morey: 1968–2025". Academy of New Zealand Literature. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d "Kelly Ana Morey". Penguin Books New Zealand. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  5. ^ Morey, Kelly (2000). Piki te ora : the location of nga poropiti in contemporary Maori art (Masters thesis). ResearchSpace@Auckland, University of Auckland. hdl:2292/2958.
  6. ^ Chidgey, Catherine (6 September 2025). "Kelly Ana Morey, remembered by her friends". The Spinoff. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  7. ^ Lay, Graeme, ed. (1997). 100 NZ Short Short Stories. Tandem Press. ISBN 9781877178016.
  8. ^ Wendt, Albert; Whaitiri, Reina; Sullivan, Robert, eds. (December 2002). Whetu Moana: Contemporary Polynesian Poetry in English. Auckland Univ Press. ISBN 9781869402730.
  9. ^ a b Whaitiri, Reina (2014). Puna Wai Korero: An Anthology of Maori Poetry in English. Auckland University Press. ISBN 9781775587460.
  10. ^ Morey, Kelly Ana (2008). Service from the Sea: New Zealand Naval History Told Through the Collections of the Royal New Zealand Navy Museum. Viking. ISBN 9780670072408.
  11. ^ Morey, Kelly Ana (2005). How to Read a Book. Awa Press. ISBN 9780958253895.
  12. ^ "St Cuthbert's History Book". St Cuthbert's College. 1 September 2014. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  13. ^ "Kelly Ana Morey". The Spinoff. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  14. ^ "Past Winners by Author". New Zealand Book Awards Trust. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  15. ^ "Janet Frame Literary Trust Awards". Janet Frame Estate. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  16. ^ "Writers in Residence". Michael King Writers Centre. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
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