They thrill readers, critics and prize-juries alike, but what goes into creating the rich, historical worlds of Monty Soutar (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti Kahungunu), Catherine Chidgey and Robbie Arnott’s works?

Hours ensconced in the library and archives? Hitting the road to where it all happened? Pouring over source material? And at what stage does the fact-finding end, and the imagining begin? Or are the two entwined from the off?

With their evocative and page-turning novels spanning pre-colonial Aotearoa New Zealand, 19th-century Tasmania, 20th-century Europe and more, Sonya Wilson meets them to hear the practical and creative details of how they vividly bring the past to life.