Michael Bennett

Michael Bennett's (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) debut novel Better the Blood was shortlisted for the Fiction Award at the Ockhams 2023, and won Best First Novel at the Ngaio Marsh Awards 2023. Michael won the Ngaio Marsh Non-Fiction award for In Dark Places, about Teina Pora's case, making him the first author to win a Ngaio for both fiction and non-fiction. Michael won Best Director and Best Film at the NZTV awards for his adaptation of In Dark Places. Michael wrote The Gone, a crime thriller series which won Best Drama at the 2023 NZTV Awards, and he is adapting Better The Blood as a 6-part TV series. Michael's second novel Return To Blood was published April 2024.

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Michael opens our festival with Why We Do the Stuff We Do.