Te Herenga Waka University Press is a division of Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington and is Aotearoa's leading publisher of fiction and poetry, as well as scholarly and literary non-fiction.
Established in the early 1970s as Victoria University Press of Wellington, Te Herenga Waka University Press has grown from a staff of one to a staff of six, under the leadership since 1985 of publisher Fergus Barrowman. We have published about eight hundred books in total, and on average we publish thirty-two new books every year. We have a special mission to discover new writers.
In January 2022 our name changed from Victoria University Press to Te Herenga Waka University Press. You can read about our name change on our blog.
FICTION
Our fiction list features many of Aotearoa's foremost writers including Eleanor Catton, Elizabeth Knox, Catherine Chidgey, Pip Adam, Rebecca K Reilly, Airini Beautrais, Annaleese Jochems, Sue Orr, Damien Wilkins, Barbara Anderson and Vincent O'Sullivan.
POETRY
Te Herenga Waka University Press has Aotearoa's strongest and most vibrant poetry list, including such writers as Tusiata Avia, Tayi Tibble, Freya Daly Sadgrove, essa may ranapiri, Oscar Upperton, Hinemoana Baker, Jenny Bornholdt, Vincent O'Sullivan, Dinah Hawken and the inaugural New Zealand Poet Laureate Bill Manhire.
NON-FICTION
We publish vital work in a wide range of subjects, including history, law and public policy, biography and memoir, literary studies, politics, art and architecture, Pacific studies, te reo Māori and personal essay. Our non-fiction is viewed in broad, culturally diverse and interdisciplinary terms, embracing studies of Aotearoa's past and present and how these may shape the future. Some of the critically acclaimed authors we have published are Rose Lu, Shayne Carter, Rachel Barrowman, Carwyn Jones, Vincent Ieni Olsen-Reeder, Geoff Park, Ashleigh Young, Maurice Gee and Chessie Henry.
STAFF
Publisher
Fergus Barrowman has been publisher of Te Herenga Waka University Press (formerly Victoria University Press) since 1985, and was the co-founder and editor of literary magazine Sport (1988–2019). He edited The Picador Book of Contemporary New Zealand Fiction (1996) and A Game of Two Halves: The Best of Sport 2005–2019 (2021). Editing jobs he remembers fondly include Keri Hulme, Te Kaihau/The Windeater (1986), Elizabeth Knox, After Z-Hour (1987) and Geoff Park, Ngā Uruora: The Groves of Life (1995).
Publishing Manager
Craig Gamble started at Te Herenga Waka University Press in 2005. Since then he has seen the press grow from a staff of four to seven, and from publishing fifteen titles per year to an average of thirty. Craig has a broad range of responsibilities, but has loved seeing new authors like Eleanor Catton, Pip Adam, Annaleese Jochems and many others make their mark in the literary world. He is the editor of Middle Distance: Long Stories of Aotearoa.
Editor
Kyleigh Hodgson has worked at Te Herenga Waka University Press since 2007, copyediting, typesetting and proofreading mostly non-fiction works, including the last five books in our series covering New Zealand's general elections (Politics in a Pandemic, Stardust and Substance, Moments of Truth, Kicking the Tyres and Key to Victory) and the four-volume box set James K. Baxter: Complete Prose.
Editor (Māori)
Jasmine Sargent (Ngāti Porou) has been with Te Herenga Waka University Press as an editor since 2019 and has a special focus on our reo Māori titles. Her project highlights so far include Monsters in the Garden (2020) and the Vanuatu women’s anthology Sista, Stanap Strong! (2021). She has worked on books with Airini Beautrais and Patrick Evans, and on short fiction with Patricia Grace and Witi Ihimaera.
Managing Editor
Ashleigh Young has been with Te Herenga Waka University Press since 2014. She has worked on poetry collections, novels, short stories, and many forms of nonfiction. A few of the authors she has worked with include Pip Adam, Shayne Carter, Oscar Upperton, Rose Lu and Ruby Solly.
ADVISORY BOARD
Rawinia Higgins, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Māori and Engagement (Convenor)
Bill Manhire, Emeritus Professor and Founding Director of the International Institute of Modern Letters
Rebecca Priestley, Associate Professor/Reader Wellington Faculty of Science
Lawrie McColl, Publishing Consultant
Fergus Barrowman, Publisher
INFORMATION FOR BOOKSELLERS
Our books are sold to booksellers in New Zealand by Archetype and are distributed in New Zealand by Upstart Distribution: orders@upstartpress.co.nz
Please note: All books sold directly by Te Herenga Waka University Press are 'firm' unless otherwise arranged.
Search on Book Hub to find out which of our titles are currently available from independent New Zealand booksellers.
EBOOKS
Many of our titles are available as e-books and can be purchased via e-book retailers, including MeBooks.
The meBooks logo appears on pages where an e-book of the title is available.