Rebecca K Reilly in conversation with Noelle McCarthy

In 2021 Rebecca K Reilly burst into the literary consciousness of Aotearoa with Greta and Valdin, a beguiling début novel that follows the eponymous brother and sister as they navigate the intricate paths of modern romance. Newsroom named it the best book of 2021. The 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards judges described it as 'gloriously queer, hilarious and relatable' and awarded it the Hubert Church Prize for Best First Book.

Rebecca's characters tend to be messy and self-sabotaging; they are relatable because of their flaws, not despite them. She perfectly captures the chaos of human relationships in a world that is deeply familiar but also a bit sexier and more stylish than the real one.

Rebecca K Reilly (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Rehua ki Ngātiwai) lives in Tāmaki Makaurau. She has a Master of Arts from Victoria University, where she won the Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing in 2019. She will be interviewed by writer and broadcaster Noelle McCarthy.