Becky Manawatu is a West Coast author and journalist. Her debut novel Auē, won the 2020 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize, the MitoQ Best First Book Award and the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, and almost five years on is regarded as a modern classic, with editions published around the world. The sequel Kataraina is to be published in October 2024.