Hokianga Publishers
What Makes Hokianga Publishers Special
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Championing Hokianga Voices & Stories
Hokianga Publishers exists to protect and uplift the stories of our region — past, present, and future. Every book we publish is created by, for, and about our people, ensuring local voices are heard not only within the community but across Aotearoa and beyond.
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Independent, Community-Driven, and Deeply Local
We’re a tiny publisher with a big heart. Our independence gives us the freedom to focus on work that matters to Hokianga — from treasured myths and legends to the creative writing of our Tamariki. Every title we produce strengthens the cultural heartbeat of the region.
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Bringing Precious Works Back to Life
From reprinting rare, long-out-of-print local histories to releasing nationally-recognised works like Susy Pointon’s story collections, we help preserve the written taonga of the Hokianga. Our books keep heritage alive while creating new opportunities for local storytellers.
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Author: Susy Pointon
The Hokianga Harbour in the Far North has been a magnet for dreamers ever since the explorer Kupe followed a long-tailed cuckoo – or was it an octopus – hoping to find fertile land in the souther seas. These stories are about dreamers who have followed him since: a cowboy looking for the perfect horse to ride in the Christmas Parade, disaffected urbanites
seeking a simpler life on the land, tourists on the “holiday of a lifetime”, a hooker hoping to escape her past.
Everyone comes to the Hokianga in pursuit of a dream. Some find it, but it’s seldom what they thought it would be. Dreamers is about what happens next.
“A long time ago, an old Roma man read my future. He told me I would always walk the rocky road, but my life would be filled with music. Scoff if you like, but he was spot on.”
“Some of these stories are about people I met along that road, when Aotearoa New Zealand hadn’t yet become cool and you couldn’t get a decent cup of coffee anywhere. Others are about dreams of life in Australia and America, and how all too often they crashed on the rocks of reality.”
Author: Susy Pointon
Whether you’re farming, fishing or just passing through, life in the Hokianga is ruled by tides. The incoming tide may usher in a school of stingray, a pod of whales, even once a dolphin that took children for rides on its back. The outgoing tide carries away the carcass of a drowned cow, a troupe of tuna heading for their breeding ground, the debris of failed enterprises, broken dreams and unpunished sins.
In these stories, a millennial couple on a Tinder date turn up in search of Local Colour and get more than they bargained for, a broken cowboy is persuaded to enter one last race, a good mate tries to support his friend as he freefalls after a lapse in sobriety. A grieving teacher believes his wife has returned to her garden in the form of a skylark. Four old friends reunite for a David Bowie tribute that raises ghosts. And how could bumbling drug smugglers ever think their actions on a far north beach would go unnoticed?
The title reminds us that nothing is constant and secure, unless it’s in the knowledge that things seldom turn out the way we plan them.
Author: Bunty Howearth
Popular stories from Ngāpuhi, retold as the author heard them in her childhood. Oral storytelling is how Māori pass their history from generation to generation. Versions of history are altered over time as different storytellers add their own nuances and interpretations. And when a story has been translated into another language, many points are lost and misheard. Who do you believe? Bunty Howearth believes it’s the one who prevents her from falling asleep.
