Patricia Grace

1937-Present

I love this city, the hills, the harbour, the
wind that blasts through it. I love
the life and pulse and activity, and the
warm decrepitude ... there’s always an edge
here that one must walk which is sharp
and precarious, requiring vigilance. From Cousins, Penguin Books, 1992

expand map

Patricia Grace

Patricia Grace's voice is a truly indigenous Wellington one. She was born here, and descends from the main tribes of the area – Ngati Toa, Te Ati Awa, and Ngati Raukawa. Grace is acknowledged as a key figure in the emergence of Maori fiction in English. Her work is noted for its versatility of style, narrative and descriptive technique, and her uncompromising portrayals of Maori consciousness and experience have won recognition from a wide international audience.

Nearby Sculptures

I baited my line, watched it sink, and waited with
exquisite anticipation for the pecking of mullet,
the sucking of trevally, or - best of all - the sudden
pull of kahawai or kingfish.

Michael King

From Brooklyn hill, ours is a doll-size city
A formal structure of handpicked squares and bricks
Apprehensible as a child’s construction
Signifying community.

Louis Johnson

Then out of the tunnel and
Wellington burst like a bomb.
It opened like a flower, was
lit up like a room, explained
itself exactly, became the
capital.

Maurice Gee