Becky Manawatu (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Waitaha) is a West Coast author and journalist. She was born in Nelson and grew up in Waimangaroa, living now in Westport with her family. Her debut novel, Auē, won Aotearoa’s leading fiction prizes and became one of the country’s all-time fiction bestsellers.

Image credit: © Stewart Nimmo
Becky Manawatu
Biography
Awards
- Longlisted for the 2025 New Zealand Book Awards for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction
- Shortlisted for the 2025 Aotearoa Booksellers Choice Award
- Winner of the 2020 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction
- Winner of the 2020 MitoQ Best First Book Award for Fiction
- Winner of the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel