We’re very pleased to name Reading Warrior as our first Coalition for Books honorary member (more about honorary membership here). We caught up with David Riley to chat about Reading Warrior and some of the projects he’s been working on. 

Tell us a little about what you do, and about Reading Warrior’s purpose and kaupapa. 

I’m a writer and teacher. I’m based in South Auckland and my goal is to get young people reading again, to inspire them with positive, inspirational stories from New Zealand and the Pacific, and to encourage them to write and publish their own stories.

I create and publish books that tell stories like this, from Aotearoa and the Pacific. I also work with schools and students all around the country, particularly in schools with Māori and Pasifika communities, helping students to find their voices and tell their own stories.

What are you working on right now?

I've just finished work on a book called Black Magic which tells the story of why our Kiwi sports teams wear black with a silver fern emblem. It's a truly inspiring story and one that isn't very well-known, but which should be. Understanding the origins of the colour and fern, and their deeper meanings, especially in te ao Māori, gives us a stronger appreciation for our national colours and their symbolism. This book was illustrated by Munro Te Whata and it has been a blessing to work with Munro again. He illustrated my very first book We Are the Rock/Niue Heroes.

With editor Carolyn Lagahetau, I have also been working on a book called Oceania Heritage: Niue to celebrate Niue's 50th independence celebrations which happen in October this year. The book is a collection of writing and illustrations by Niue children in Niue, in New Zealand, and around the world, including in places like Norway, Japan and Wales! The children selected topics they wanted to write about and these range from Niue history, to traditions, to life as a young person today. The book will be launched in Niue during the Constitution week celebrations and is the first title in a new Reading Warrior series called Oceania Heritage – which are books about Oceania written and illustrated by children from Oceania.

Another book I’ve been working on is an illustrated biography of Albert Baskerville, an extraordinary young man who lived in the early 19th century and is responsible for rugby league’s establishment in New Zealand. This book is being illustrated by Adele Jackson. I really enjoy working with Adele – she's one of those talented illustrators who can work in multiple different styles and I love seeing the roughs she sends through.

And finally I gained permission from the family of Kiwi-Cook Islands poet Alistair Teariki Campbell to get his poem called Poem for Ataahua illustrated for children – and that's exciting too because it's such an awesome poem. I particularly enjoy its lyrical nature and the way it celebrates Aotearoa wildlife such as the wētā. My drama students at Tangaroa College set one stanza of the poem to music and we included it in a show about Alistair Campbell that we created. Since then, I've wanted to create a book version of it as well. I'm thinking of finding a composer to set the whole poem to music and including a link to that in the book. The illustrator is Sarah Wilkins who I was introduced to by Adele Jackson. I love our community of children's writers and illustrators, we’re all so supportive of each other.

And ... is there another book sector project or initiative that you think is particularly exciting?

Read NZ Te Pou Muramura's project Pōkai Tuhi is exciting. It enables Māori and Pasifika writers to go into schools and hold workshops with children and that's awesome, because if our Māori and Pasifika young people can see writers from their own backgrounds, and engage in writing workshops with them, it encourages them to know they can do it too if they want to, so we can grow even more writers from Oceania!

Find out more about Reading Warrior here