Iona Winter

Category: creative writing

  • Updates

    Kia ora WordPress whānau, I’m stoked to say my story ‘Honey’ was chosen for the latest Flash Frontier publication: Birds (one of my favourite topics and sources of inspiration!). This wonderful collection of local and international writers is a fantastic read http://www.flash-frontier.com/november-2016-birds/#honey On another note, I am working away on my manuscript. A collection of poetry, short stories…

  • Marks

    We met at the pub. Next morning, he suggested breakfast, ‘Eggs?’ I cooked, we ate and he disappeared.   But he’d marked my neck with a crown-shaped bruise. Then I couldn’t sleep much.   So I visited Granny, and her lush herb garden. Granny says in a past life she…

  • Lost Marbles

    My Grandfather sleeps a lot these days. When he’s awake he repeats the same questions, or remembers random facts from the past. “I owned a Chevrolet Impala in 1967.” Way before my time. He lost his marbles, searching for words that had always been abundant in forthcoming. Then my Grandmother…

  • I’m going to Edinburgh

    Mōrena WordPress Whānau, (Morning WordPress Family), That’s right. I’m going to Edinburgh to present and participate in the ‘Unbound’ finale event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August. How amazing! And I feel completely humbled, blessed and privileged to have been asked to go.  As a writer from Ōtepoti, Dunedin, Aotearoa, New…

  • te reo māori

    i’m grateful i was taught te reo māori as a kid and had my bum kicked figuratively if i got pronunciation wrong we take our shoes off so we don’t trek any tiko inside ngā whare metaphorically i cringe when people say ‘leave them on’ or utter words badly because that’s how they’ve ‘always’ said them i know the reactions when i do the…

  • #HappyPubDay

    I’m stoked (kiwi-speak for: over the moon, delighted, gobsmacked, etc) to report that today another short story of mine has been published, hence the hashtag above. Issue One of Halo (UK) and my story ‘Conch Shells’ http://halolitmag.co.uk/ Oh and here’s the link for the one before this Headland (Aotearoa, New Zealand), and my story…

  • Flash Tea

    This week I purchased some quality herb tea. A flash brand, rather than the sawdust they sell in the supermarkets. What I like most (beyond the taste of course) are the tags. Each one has a message printed on it. Today’s tag says, ‘Life without love is like a ship without sails’. Nice. How romantic.  My…

  • Resolute Blankness

    Another calendar year has passed. And a new one has begun. Where will this year lead, or should I be leading it? ‘The Novel’ has morphed into a concise, punchy short story. I sent it off the other day to several literary journals (both here in NZ and overseas). I felt sadness and…

  • I had a friend like that…

    I had a friend like that…

    I had a friend like that once too.   He spoke to me of faraway places with the sun in his eyes.   I remember his crinkled mouth edges and tree-like arms around my back.   I had a friend like that once too.   You told me today of…

  • The P Word

    Here I am mooching around the wasteland of the interweb looking for inspiration. Or is that just the p word—procrastination? I decided to remove myself from social media (aka major distraction). Now, at the eleventh hour, I’m questioning the decision and wondering if it’s a feeble attempt to be less…