Thalia Henry
Thalia Henry lives in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Inspired by the landscapes of the rugged South Island high country, where she spent time as a teenager learning to glide with her late father, Terry, "Beneath Pale Water" is her debut novel. The manuscript comes from a play, "Powdered Milk," which she wrote in 2008 and presented at the Dunedin Write Out Loud Festival. "Beneath Pale Water" was awarded a gold award in the 2018 IPPY competition - Australia/New Zealand Best Regional Fiction category.
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Thalia's recent publications include a short story, "Nigella" (2024), in the Botanical Short Stories collection by The History Press, UK; a narrative poem in "More than a Roof" (2023), an anthology by Landing Press, described as an eclectic story about home, and a reflection about freedom in the Cloud Ink Press Covid-19 themed anthology, "Fresh Ink: A Collection of Voices from Aotearoa" (2021). Thalia has contributed to various other publications.
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Currently, Thalia is writing her second novel manuscript, "Sorry Rocks," set against the backdrop of Te Henga (Bethells Beach) and the Northern Territory of Australia.
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Annabelle Grierson says: “Cloud Ink Press is thrilled to publish Thalia Henry’s debut novel, Beneath Pale Water, which we believe will make a unique and lasting contribution to New Zealand literary fiction. Thalia’s writing is both a poetic and suspenseful in a tale in which the South Island landscape has the presence of a living being. The novel is unpredictable as the characters journey towards the action-packed finale.”
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Renowned Kiwi author Owen Marshall says Beneath Pale Water “powerfully evokes the landscapes and seasons of inland Otago.”
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"Lucid and springy dialogue." David Hill, New Zealand Listener.
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"The strangest thing I've read for quite some time.
The most original thing I've read for quite some time."
Louise O'Brian, Radio New Zealand nine to noon.
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"There's a threatened sort of tension that builds and builds."
Ruth Todd, Plains FM.
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"A story which invokes feelings of suspense and anticipation by focusing on the mental and emotional instability of its characters." (...) "A gripping read." Shelley Chappell, Takahē Magazine.
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“Beneath Pale Water contains three memorable characters set into ever-tighter orbits in an intricately patterned plot.” Craig Cliff, Landfall.
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