Grace is a pioneering and influential figure in New Zealand literature, and over her career has won a number of awards, including the Kiriyama Prize, the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, two honorary doctorates of literature, a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement, and an Icon Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand for extraordinary lifetime achievement. She has also written a number of children's books, seeking to write books in which Māori children can see their own lives. Her most well-known novel, Potiki (1986) features a Māori community opposing the private development of their ancestral land. Her works explore Māori life and culture, including the impact of Pākehā (New Zealand European) and other cultures on Māori, with use of the Māori language throughout. Since becoming a full-time writer in the 1980s, Grace has written seven novels, seven short-story collections, a non-fiction biography and an autobiography. Her first novel, Mutuwhenua: The Moon Sleeps, followed in 1978. Her early short stories were published in magazines, leading to her becoming the first female Māori writer to publish a collection of short stories, Waiariki, in 1975. She began writing as a young adult, while working as a teacher. Patricia Frances Grace DCNZM QSO ( née Gunson born 17 August 1937) is a New Zealand Māori writer of novels, short stories, and children's books.
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