Short stories, personal essays, articles, & reviews

A Chinese woman standing sideways with hands on her hips, wearing an orange patterned pantsuit, beige blazer, and jewellery, with a white background and wooden floor.

Short Stories

  • Read ‘A Question of Morals’ here

    “You both need to understand this: if you’re not at the top of the class then you’re at the bottom.”

    First published in Newsroom, September 2021.

  • Read ‘House of Dragons’ here

    "Katie held her breath — she always did at the moment the backdrop of Hong Kong gave way to the wild jungle paradise of the family home, an unexpected oasis in the city of concrete and smog."

    First published in Headland Journal, November 2021.

  • Read ‘Shui Gui’ here

    “‘That's why you don't pee in the river at night' —he leaned closer, his voice dropped—‘or the shui gui will get you.'"

    First published in Takahē 109, December 2023.

  • “‘How is it?' her mum asked, but she didn't mean the jook, she meant being back at the start of everything all over again. She meant how did it feel to give up on a dream."

    First published in Capital Magazine, Issue #93.

  • “Mei had understood she’d failed a test she hadn’t realized she was taking, but that was her relationship to her mother: a constant push and pull, all the while being evaluated for reasons not quite clear to her.”

    First published in Berkeley Fiction Review, Issue 45.

Personal Essays

  • Read ‘A Love of Food & Writing’ here

    Headland Journal asked me about my 'other love' outside of writing, and how that feeds into my creative life. This was my response.

    First published in the Headland Journal blog, January 2022.

  • Read ‘27 Teeth’ here

    "Some people grow too many teeth. Jackie Lee Morrison grew 27 too many."

    First published in The Spinoff's Sunday Essay, August 2022.

  • Read ‘Twenty-Five Years’ here

    "Death had become our constant companion; always in the corner, waiting."

    ​First published in The Spinoff's Sunday Essay, November 2023.

  • Read ‘Missing Metal’ here

    “An elder scolded me for my inability to speak Cantonese: ‘You must learn.’ My father heard my elder’s words and said nothing. My shame was as much his as it was mine."

    First published in The Spinoff, October 2024

Articles

  • “From sea to sauté, Jackie Lee Morrison gets to know Wellington's fishing fanatics."

    First published in Capital Magazine, Issue #87.

  • “Marlar Boon’s journey back to her Burmese roots has been one that she’s had to navigate for herself. Like many other second-generation diaspora children, with no mentor or guiding hand, the flavours she remembers from her childhood have been cobbled together through trial and error. But that’s very often how it is for the children of immigrants — every little link and connection can bring you closer to home. Or, at least, what home means for you."

    ​First published in Capital Magazine, Issue #89.

  • “‘At some stage, you will have a failure — you lift it out of the oven and the meat falls off the bones. There’s nothing you can do. But we don’t talk about those.’"

    First published in Capital Magazine, Issue #90.

reviews

  • Read ‘Flight of the Bird Woman’ here

    “Hereaka's skill lies not only in being an excellent storyteller but also in crafting characters who leap off the page, hold you down and insist that you listen to them."

    A review of Whiti Hereaka's Kurangaituku. First published in Newsroom, January 2022.

  • Read ‘Otherhood’ review here

    “Unmarried, childless women are dangerous. At least that's what society would have you believe."

    First published in Kete Books, May 2024.

  • Read ‘At The Grand Glacier Hotel’ review here

    “A tender and beautifully written story about learning to live again...gently humorous, while tinged with a deep sense of loss..."

    First published in Kete Books, June 2024.