Former resident at Randell Cottage, Tina Makereti, has launched a challenging new book, The Mires, that tackles big subjects – identity, racism, intolerance and what happens when that becomes extremism.

It is set in the near future,  in a small New Zealand coastal settlement, where three women find themselves neighbours. Single mum of two Keri, Janet an older woman with an opinion on everything, and Sera, who has sought refuge in New Zealand from ecological devastation in Europe.

Tina Makereti is the author of two novels, The Imaginary Lives of James Pōneke and Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings.  She’s also a short story writer and co-edited the anthology Black Marks on the White Page.  Tina was the Randell Cottage Creative New Zealand’s writer in residence in 2014.