Latest news with #WitiIhimaera
RNZ News
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Witi Ihimaera - reclaiming his reo at 80
Photo: Phil Johnson Legendary author Witi Ihimaera is the man behind Whale Rider and Pounamu Pounamu. Already a celebrated master of the pen, at the age of 80 he felt a yearning to master something new and learn te reo Māori. While many people assumed he could already speak it, Witi grew up without becoming fluent in his tūpuna reo, encouraged instead to pursue achievements in the Pākehā world. After wrestling with deeply personal challenges that had held him back for decades, he took the leap and enrolled for an infamously difficult year-long crash course, with full-immersion lessons conducted in Māori only. His journey has been documented in a new podcast, Witi Underwater , by Te Pūrongo Productions.
NZ Herald
10-06-2025
- NZ Herald
Ko Witi tōku ingoa: Esteemed NZ author's te reo immersion
At 80, Witi Ihimaera threw himself in the deep end: a year-long commitment to a full-time Māori language immersion class. It was May 2024, and Witi Ihimaera was meant to be at a noho marae in Port Waikato, flexing his growing vocabulary in kōrerorero with his fellow students; maybe even risking a moe on the wharenui floor overnight, snorers allowing. Instead, the eminent writer was 18,000km away, zipping between appearances in Paris for the launch of his sixth book
NZ Herald
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Whanganui festival features Ockham winners Ngāhuia Te Awekōtuku, Damien Wilkins
He is the director of the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington. Aauthor Witi Ihimaera called Delirious a novel of 'grace and humanity'. 'These are flawed and immensely satisfying characters – you close your eyes at the faulty, circuitous routes they take. Delirious is a marvel of a book,' he said Te Awekōtuku is an academic specialising in Māori cultural issues, a lesbian activist, and the first Māori woman to earn a PhD. She was awarded the General Non-Fiction Award for her memoir Hine Toa: A Story of Bravery. Novelist and poet Dame Fiona Kidman called the memoir 'extraordinary, vivid, riveting'. 'I learned, I laughed and I wept over this book,' she said. Eight more acclaimed speakers for the Whanganui festival will be announced in June, with the full event programme released in July. 'We can assure you that we have some exciting surprises in store,' White said. 'There's a fantastic mix of voices and genres, something for every kind of booklover, as well as some interesting events in the pipeline.' The festival was a good reason for out-of-towners to visit Whanganui, she said. 'This is the perfect excuse to start planning a weekend escape to one of New Zealand's most creative and culturally rich cities. 'With numerous literary festival events hosted at the iconic Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery, it's also a great opportunity to explore this stunning gallery, which has recently reopened after a major redevelopment and to soak up the charms of Whanganui's heritage and cultural precinct with Whanganui Regional Museum nearby.'
