Listen: Harriet Allan talks about editing Kelly Ana Morey's final novel

8 September 2026 First published RNZ

Award-winning New Zealand writer Kelly Ana Morey's final novel, Ordinary People Like Us, is being published posthumously, a year after her death.

Kelly Ana had spent a decade working on the ambitious story of five generations of Māori women, but died before she could complete the final edits.

Her friend, novelist Catherine Chidgey, and editor Harriet Allan took on the task of finishing the manuscript, guided by their knowledge of Kelly Ana and her vision for the book.

Harriet joined Kathryn Ryan on RNZ's Nine to Noon programme to talk about that process, and the decision to bring Kelly Ana Morey’s final work to readers.