Although things are changing, the idea of the ’Kiwi bloke’ still persists, and novels by male authors that examine men’s feelings and anxieties remain in small numbers. We bring together three Aotearoa New Zealand debut novelists who are helping to turn the tide: cage- fighter turned teacher and author of the #1 bestseller The Bone Tree Airana Ngarewa (Ngāti Ruanui, Ngā Rauru, Ngāruahine); travel writer and author of Because All Fades Freddie Gillies; and former winner of Survivor New Zealand turned teacher and novelist of Max Avi Duckor-Jones.

With Jack Tame they discuss their powerful coming-of-age novels and how they are shifting the needle on how Aotearoa New Zealand men are portrayed in our fiction.