Tauhou, Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall

House of Anansi, 2023

Tauhou tells stories of different sizes and shapes. Each stands on its own, but there is interplay—like translucent pictures overlapping. The stories evoke author Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall’s own Māori and Coast Salish ancestry. These worlds are distinct but Nuttall lets them meet sometimes, celebrating their unique histories and nuances while emphasizing the shared experience of colonization. Though Nuttall’s characters may appear for only a few pages, you feel intimate with them. Her writing is tactile and sensual; everything is vividly felt. Tauhou spans continents and centuries, but Nuttal’s close-up storytelling makes them fit in the palm of your hand.

—Anna Bowness, London