Join Unity bookseller Chloe in conversation with award-winning filmmaker and crime writer, Michael Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Hinerangi).
Michael's Hana Westerman series, Better The Blood (2022), Return To Blood (2024) and Carved In Blood (2025), is the first crime thriller novel series about a Māori cop written by a Māori author. The series is included in the curriculum for NCEA level 2 and level 3 students at multiple secondary schools across Aotearoa, not only making it an accessible read but proving it's an integral one.
Michael’s first published book was the result of his nearly decade-long commitment to the fight for justice for Teina Pora, a young Māori man wrongly imprisoned for 21 years. In Dark Places, Michael’s non-fiction novel about Teina, won Best Non-Fiction at the Ngaio Marsh Awards, which Chloe is excited to spend time talking about.
Better the Blood, his debut novel, was published in New Zealand, UK, USA and Australia, with ten translations. Outside of writing books, Michael is co-curator Māori (with Matariki Bennett) of Waituhi o Tāmaki, the Auckland Writers’ Festival, from 2023 – 2025. He is the 2020 recipient of the Te Aupounamu Māori Screen Excellence Award, awarded by the NZ Film Commission for excellence in Māori filmmaking.
This is a conversation not to miss. Michael has the ability to enrapture any audience, from topics on literature and film to whakapapa and whanau, he is absolutely captivating to listen to.
Tickets are $10 and $5 of that will be redeemable against purchases made on the night.
