Emily Chalk
Anna Coddington is an award-winning musician, mum of two, has a Masters in linguistics, is studying law full-time – and with the release of her debut children’s book Blue, Blue Christmas, she can now also add author to the list.
“It’s a lot of very different hats to wear but most are word-based, so I kind of see it as one skill set I apply in very different ways,” says the 2022 Best Album in Te Reo Māori award winner.
With so many things on her plate, there’s little free time, but Anna describes this as an exploratory season of life and she’s determined to enjoy the journey.
“I’m throwing heaps of mud at the wall and seeing what sticks, trying to find the place where I can be the most helpful, useful and happy,” tells Anna, 42, who is mum to sons, Arlo, 10, and Eddie Ray, seven, with her DJ and producer partner Dick Johnson, 52.
“For me, having kids was the big catalyst to explore again. Once you have kids, all your priorities change, so it was the perfect time to reassess what’s important – what are my values and what do I want my life to look like?
From left: Anna, Eddie Ray, Arlo and Dick give Christmas the thumbs-up.
“It’s been a long process. I had been thinking about retraining for years. When I finally decided to study law, I told myself, ‘Four years is going to go by like that,’ and sure enough, I’m halfway through already.”
Her ambitious approach to life is matched by her partner, with the pair always supporting each other and sharing responsibilities to meet everyone’s needs. Yet although they thrive on being busy, Anna concedes she is very much looking forward to a summer break.
“I’ve just finished my second-year exams. It doesn’t suit me to sit around, but in saying that, this year was a lot and I’m glad the holidays are here. I need that right now. I’m looking forward to trying to get my fitness back up – studying full-time as a māmā while also doing some mahi [work], I had to let some things go – and getting back into my maara [garden]. I’m not good at it, but I love it.”
The boys embraced lockdown activities from head to toe.
With the release of Blue, Blue Christmas, available in English and te reo Māori, this year, Anna says it feels like the festive season came just a little early. It was three years ago, while looking for ways to challenge herself during the 2020 lockdowns, that she first put pen to paper – or in this case, finger to phone.
“I wasn’t really able to make any music during that time,” she explains. “I had the kids at home, I was trying to homeschool, and I found other coping mechanisms and little creative outlets. I learnt to sew and made about 100 masks, grew tomatoes from seed, did heaps of crafts with the kids and wrote lots of things on the notes app of my phone – one of those became Blue, Blue Christmas.
“I’ve always loved making words fit in a certain way, and it became a fun little challenge to see the story through and tighten it up as best I could. When I finished it, I thought, ‘This isn’t bad, maybe I’ll send it to a publisher. Why not?’
“My little one Eddie Ray was really excited when we got the test print. For about a week, he wanted it for his bedtime story, sometimes requesting the Māori version and sometimes the English,” says Anna, referencing the te reo Māori translation, He Kirihimete Kahurangi.
Readers have the choice of English or te reo Māori.
Growing up in Raglan with a mother who loved the holiday season, Anna’s childhood was filled with quintessential Kiwi Christmases. A celebratory surf was mandatory for her brother and Dad, and whānau filled the local campground with barbecues, gazebos, music and fun.
On other years, they’d head to their marae in Tūrangi, sleeping in the meeting house with those who couldn’t fit pitching tents outside, then spend all day feasting and swimming in the lake with cousins.
“Those were awesome Christmases, when my koro [grandfather] was still alive and pulled everyone together. Now me and my cousins are the grown-ups. Our marae is getting fixed up, so I’m hoping we’ll be able to do that again soon.”
Drawing on these treasured memories and more, like building “sand cars” at the beach, Anna has relished the chance to offer a story about an Aotearoa alternative version to the traditional white Christmas narrative.
There’s already a second children’s book about Matariki in the works and her fifth album is due out next year – “a fun, bilingual indie disco album” – but for now, Anna can’t wait to bake biscuits with her boys and celebrate another Blue, Blue Christmas.
Blue, Blue Christmas and He Kirihimete Kahurangi (Penguin, rrp $21) are out now.
