Airini, a former Science teacher at Wellington Girls' College, won the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at this year's Ockham New Zealand Book award for her short story collection, Bug Week & Other Stories. This is New Zealand's premier book award and Bug Week & Other Stories is only the second ever short story collection to win the Acorn Prize.

Airini has published four volumes of poetry; Bug Week & Other Stories, is her first work of prose.  She has a PhD in Creative Writing from Victoria University and has taught the subject in the past.  She is currently working at UCOL Whanganui where she teaches Biology to nursing students.  Along with teaching and writing, she is also a single mother to two children aged 11 and 9.

The challenge for her is finding time to finish a book and go through the process of editing.  In the case of Bug Week & Other Stories, that was made possible by a Creative New Zealand grant that allowed her to cut down her teachings hours for a while in 2017.

By Emily Brookes, 16 May 2021, Stuff online news