iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Just went to the Women's Refuge annual pop-up opshop and it was heaving. Gorgeous clothes! I picked up this vintage Japanese torsade pearl necklace for $4.

Freshwater potato pearls, and blue and gold beads in a twisted top torsade style necklace, with box clasp.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I bought this 'Pohutukawa Rina' print by Evelyn Page from an opshop, thinking it was a random blue version; turns out it's just a super-faded coloured print! I didn't know ink could do that. Thanks to Chch Art Gallery for not laughing at me when I asked who made this exciting blue copy!

Two nude women on a rocky seashore, with pohutukawa branches overhead. Very radical at the time.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Look what showed up today! I read Terri's Māori scifi thriller at an early draft stage and it was the BEST early draft I have ever read. I was super jealous tbh 😅😭 And here it is, and it's glorious. The cover! The concept! I weep anew with mingled delight and envy. Launching soon! #booksky

The Valley of Unlikely Acquaintances by Terri Te Tau, book cover showing a waterfall and trees.

The inner cover with reviews by worthy literary people which I can't write out now, but just know that they are GLOWING.

The synopsis which is of a Māori scifi time slip thriller

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Opshopping is a joy right now. Boomers are downsizing and binning all their fabulous quality collectibles. I bought these vintage costume pearl beads for $6 today from our local Vinnies. They make me feel all Bridgerton.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

It was my birthday yesterday and I bought a painting from the opshop. It's called First Fleet by Dennis Wade, and I think it's neat.

An acrylic abstract painting with a blue background, and lots of colours on top.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Op shop book buy today. I am learning arting 😍🖼️ #booksky

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Look at this wild ashtray I found all cobwebby at the back of the shed

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Anyway, I got it! It's a little pot by Joyce Young, a Taranaki potter who passed away a few years ago. I like the orange.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Hallo. I bought this teeny vase at the opshop for $2. Turns out it's a studio piece by Australian wheel-engraving artist Arnie Gautsch. I win!

My vase with frosted engraving in a symmetrical curved line pattern.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

My neighbour: You want some feijoas?

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

I made poppy and sesame seed bagels and had one of each with cream cheese and apricot jam, and they were yum 😋

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Post a pic you took, no context, to bring some zen to the feed

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

Bought my kid the new Brandon Sanderson short story collection for Xmas, stole it back about an hour after it was opened, it's really good 😊 #booksky

Brandon Sanderson's book 'Tailored Realities' with cover showing a portal window looking at a weird sunset city

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Funny, I saw your book there and arranged it face out 😅

Secrets at Red Rocks novel by Rachael King, at the Warehouse 😍

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

It's my kid's birthday so I bought myself an onyx ring to celebrate my awesome mum-ness. Presents for everyone!

A square piece of onyx in a silver ring setting, on my finger.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

School strike today, so took the child to get new school sandals. Taranaki Rubber make shoes to fit the feet! You can get a custom pair in like 45 mins. Her last pair lasted 18 months which is brilliant for hard-wearing kids. Highly recommend.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

I just ordered my birthday present online: 8 Pilot V-pens from PB Tech 💕

The only pen I use. I buy a bunch of them every year. This is a picture of the blue one from the PB tech website. They're about six bucks each. I like the blue ones best, although I did buy a couple of black ones, and one red one just for fun. They are the best pens on earth, and I live in fear that they will be discontinued.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

I made a vision board yesterday, and I downloaded a pic which I've optimistically called my business team, as in, the team of people who help me achieve my goals, and it's so funny, and I can't stop looking at it. 😭✊

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Look at this beautiful tote design from NZATE 💕

This is a tote with Hine-Nui-Te-Po printed in white on a black background, in space?? She has luxuriant hair and is carrying a calabash.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

I love late stage capitalism 💕😬

This is a photograph from the New Plymouth community page. Someone took a photo of a rock marked $20, available now from the New Plymouth Hospice op shop.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

Me and @cassiehart.bsky.social reading our very short fiction stories from new collection 'Poto/Short' published by Massey University Press. Thanks to @nzsa.bsky.social for a lovely time!

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

I'm having a day I could've only dreamed about ten years ago! This morning I voiced an audiobook, then workshopped my picture book manuscript. This afternoon I'm mentoring an emerging writer, and working on a manuscript for an international publisher. And I'm doing most of it in pyjamas 😍 #writing

Me with producer Leah in the studio at Te Korimako o Taranaki, voicing audio for my young adult book 'Migration' :)

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Thrilled that my YA indigenous sci-fi book 'Migration' has been shortlisted for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults! It's a decent yarn, I reckon. Congrats to all the finalists! Available at bookstores and the library! #NZCYA #BooksAlive #author #writing #kikorangi #booksky

Book covers of all the finalists in the NZCYA young adult category: Bear by Kiri Lightfoot, Gracehoper by Mandy Hager, Migration by ME, The Mess of out Lives by Mary-Anne Scott, and The Paradise Generation by Sanna Thompson

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Fangirling over the lovely Jessica Townsend at Auckland Writers Festival! She signed her book 'Nevermore' for me and bought FOUR of mine which was very extravagant and unnecessary but amazing 😭🙏 Love her!! 🤩💝

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Book signing at Auckland Writers Festival! Also tee-shirt signing, and (ew) three separate Crocs shoes signing 😅 #author #AWF #writerslife

Me signing a kids tee-shirt after my presentation. I talked about the Whetū Toa series and my plotter process for writing books.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

I'm at parent teacher interviews and this is on one of the classroom doors 😅

Sign says 'Bro. If Einstein can prove that time is relative, you can get to class relatively on time. No cap.'

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

This is amazing!! Here is mine:

Google AI nonsense overview of a phrase I made up:
The statement 'a rainbow is a quest for truth' suggests that rainbows, with their ephemeral nature and elusive ends, symbolize the human journey of seeking knowledge and understanding. It highlights the idea that the truth is often not immediately apparent and requires exploration and perseverance, much like chasing after a rainbow

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

My YA scifi book 'Migration' won a NZ Booklovers Award today! (I may have danced.) Congrats to all category winners and finalists! The story is about spaceships and aliens and laser guns, but underneath it's about colonisation and grief. #booksky #nzbooks

Cover of 'Migration' with an indigenous girl in front holding her fists up in a fighting stance, and a boy behind her looking away, but defending her. The suggestion of a city is behind them.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Hi friends! Can I brag a little? I just got double shortlisted for the NZ Booklovers Awards, for my young adult scifi novel 'Migration', and picture book, 'The Dream Factory'. I have my proud face on :) Congrats to all the finalists!! www.nzbooklovers.co.nz/2025-awards

pretty sexy canva pic of my two book covers, The Dream Factory, and Migration. The Dream Factory was illustrated by Zak Atea. Both were published by Huia Publishers.
'The Dream Factory' pic is a dreamy illustration of a fantastical factory on a hill overlooking a town, in pinks and blues. 'Migration' shows a boy and girl in a futuristic city. The boy is facing away, looking as though he's searching for danger, and the girl is looking at us, with her fists raised to fight.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Missed out last time but just saw MLC Ake Ake hoodies were restocked and now almost sold out at the Warehouse! No black so looks like I'm rocking the beige two sizes too big 😊

Online sales pic from the Warehouse website, young man wearing the beige Ake Ake MLC hoodie $35

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Butter makes me depressed :(

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

I work inside. I do not like the sun. My kid's kapa haka comp was outside. Me:

A picture of me at the Bowl of Brooklands in early summer, covered head to toe with sunblock, clothes, hat and umbrella.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Look at this neat book I found on my shelf. Published 2004. #kikorangi #nz

Cover of 'Hīkoi, forty years of Māori protest' by Aroha Harris, with the cover picture of the Māori land March 1975 by John Miller.

Photo in book. Shows many Māori people wearing '70s clothing and traditional clothing walking down, I guess Lambton Quay, and it must have been raining because the streets are shiny.

Captioned as 'Māori land March, Wellington 1975 - John Miller

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Apologies for not adding alt-text on my previous pics! Have rectified with these ones. Inspiring march in Ngāmotu, weather awesome, and there were horses with red ribbons on their tails too! #toitūtetiriti

Protest march coming along the New Plymouth foreshore, flying Tino Rangatira flags. It's sunny and the vibe is proud.

Taken from in the march: walking along the foreshore, behind flag bearers, the NP windwand in the distance and the destination.

Another view of the march, along the foreshore, the sea and islands in the distance.

View of the march along Devon Street. The crowd stretches right back down the road, a massive turnout. Everyone is happy, and the sun is shining.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Crack-up overseas reddit comment in response to TikTok of Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke and the haka in the House 😅

Reddit comment from user 'emotional name 891':
'Oh you are trying to fuck my people?
Let me scream you a murder song real quick.'

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

Don't come to New Plymouth, it's horrendous

Green glowing bubbles on a lake - the festival of lights at Pukekura Park

A kid speeding toward the camera on a scooter along the coastal walkway, with the town of New Plymouth in the background. The wind wand is leaning so there's a bit of a breeze, and the sky looks very cumulus and dramatic.

Surfers at Fitzroy beach, with Strandon in the background. Nice offshore waves, lots of people in the water, which is what always happens when the surf is pumping - no one goes to work.

Mt Taranaki in a pink sunrise. Picture taken from my kitchen window, early winter.

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Steph Matuku @stephm1.bsky.social · 11/11/2024

Thrilled to have my book 'Migration' as a Storylines Notable Book! Also slightly confused because there seems to be only two on the YA list? (More in alt text) #pukapuka #kikorangi

Graphic from Storylines showing the YA books that have been awarded as Notable books for 2024, except there's only my book 'Migration', and Mandy Hagar's book 'Gracehopper', and this category is usually quite chocka! There are even more books in the reo Māori category, 8 in fact! And the junior fiction section has 12!

I really hope this isn't a sign that authors are turning away from YA, because our teens deserve local writing that resonates with them and reflects their experience. IMHO, YA books are tricky to write, and they take ages, but honestly, having a teen come up to you and say that your book is the best book they've ever read, makes up for all the angst of writing the damn thing in the first place.

Anyway, congrats to all the finalists!!

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