How to Loiter in a Turf War

How to Loiter in a Turf War has it all. It is the epitome of genre defying; within its pages it contains a mixture of poetry, artwork, essay extracts and realistic characters who seem to be plucked straight from the suburbs of Tāmaki Makaurau.

As Te Hoia, Q and Rosina navigate through life, it makes the reader contemplate the struggles they have faced with identity, gentrification and racism. We follow these three friends through their everyday lives, going to uni, working, writing poetry, and selling art in a gallery showing. These characters are creative, smart and share their experiences growing up in the city. This book delves into some complex issues young people and Aotearoa in general are facing. Solid seems to be telling the reader to wake up and speak out against injustice.


The novel hooks you in with its first line and can be read relatively quickly, multiple times over, as you dig for a deeper understanding of its key messages. As a brown wāhine, I see myself in these characters, I see myself in their struggles and I see my stories within these pages.

The novel ends with an uncertainty of what the future will hold if gentrification displaces our culture but Te Hoia holds on to hope that she will never be lost and promises that “One day, I’ll make all the people who tried to eject us wish we were lost”.

Do you have any advisory warnings for this book? Explicit language at times.

Would this book work as a read aloud? Yes

Is there a particular part of the country that it’s set in? Tāmaki Makaurau