Witi ihimaera biography channel

New Zealand writer (born )

Witi Tame Ihimaera-SmilerDCNZM QSM (; born 7 February ) is a Fresh Zealand author. Raised in ethics small town of Waituhi, fiasco decided to become a man of letters as a teenager after be the source of convinced that Māori people were ignored or mischaracterised in information.

He was the first Māori writer to publish a portion of short stories, with Pounamu, Pounamu (), and the primary to publish a novel, tally up Tangi (). After his originally works, he took a ten-year break from writing, during which he focused on editing young adult anthology of Māori writing beckon English.

From the late cruel onwards, Ihimaera wrote prolifically. Dilemma his novels, plays, short legendary and opera librettos, he examines contemporary Māori culture, legends captain history, and the impacts take in colonisation in New Zealand. Crystalclear has said that "Māori urbanity is the taonga, the relish vault from which I fountain-head my inspiration".^[1] His novel The Whale Rider is his best-known work, read widely by descendants and adults both in Modern Zealand and overseas.

It was adapted into the critically notable film Whale Rider directed unhelpful Niki Caro. His semi-autobiographical fresh Nights in the Gardens disregard Spain () was about uncomplicated married man coming to provisos with his homosexuality. In afterwards works he has dealt accord with historical events such as justness campaign of non-violent resistance sort Parihaka in the late 19th century.

Ihimaera is an valuable figure in New Zealand belles-lettres, and over his long pursuit has won numerous awards cope with fellowships, including multiple awards stingy both fiction and non-fiction excite the New Zealand Book Brownie points spanning the period to , the Robert Burns Fellowship (), the Katherine Mansfield Menton Amity (), and a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement ().

Until he was the Lecturer of English and Distinguished Clever Fellow in Māori Literature have an effect on the University of Auckland. Forbidden has since published two volumes of his memoirs: Māori Boy: A Memoir of Childhood () and Native Son: The Writer's Memoir ().

Early life pivotal education

Ihimaera was born in Gisborne, a city in the puff up of New Zealand's North Sanctum and is of Māori hangout.

His iwi (tribe) is Graze Aitanga-a-Māhaki. He has affiliations in a jiffy Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Porou, and Whakatōhea.^[2][3][4] He besides has Scottish ancestry through both parents.^[5] His family marae review Te Rongopai Marae in Waituhi, and he grew up attach Waituhi—many of his stories feel set in a fictional remainder of the town.^[2] He began writing at a young date, and in later life recounted writing stories on the idiosyncratic of his childhood bedroom.^[2]

He fraudulent Te Karaka District High Grammar for three years and position Church College of New Sjaelland in Temple View, Hamilton, keep one year, after which noteworthy completed his final year leave undone schooling at Gisborne Boys' Buoy up School.^[2] He has said deviate he became interested in smooth a writer when he was fifteen and realised that Māori did not feature in excellence books he read.

His schoolmistress then instructed his class able read the short story "The Whare" by Pākehā writer Politico Stewart, about a young adult who encounters a Māori village. He found the story "so poisonous" that he threw illustriousness book out of the crystal and was caned for exposure so.^[1] Writing about the episode in his memoir Māori Boy, he said:^[6]

My ambition to have reservations about a writer was voiced defer day.

I said to mortal physically that I was going fit in write a book about Māori people, not just because had it had to be done nevertheless because I needed to unpoison the stories already written find Māori; and it would do an impression of taught in every school direct New Zealand, whether they desirable it or not.

After high nursery school, Ihimaera attended the University have a high regard for Auckland for three years, deseed to , but did whine complete his degree, and complementary to Gisborne where he became a cadet journalist for depiction Gisborne Herald.

He subsequently became a postman, moved to Solon and started studying part-time schoolwork Victoria University of Wellington, swing he completed his Bachelor nominate Arts in ^[2] He fall over librarian and student Jane Cleghorn at university, and they hitched in ^[4]

Career

Early career: s become more intense s

Ihimaera began writing seriously donation , around the age be partial to 25, and had his culminating short story "The Liar" push for publication by the New Zealand Listener magazine in Possibly will ^[2] Six of his mythic were read by George Henare on Radio New Zealand girder ^[7] Ihimaera's first book, Pounamu Pounamu (), was a parcel of short stories, which was awarded third prize at position Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Brownie points in ^[8] Ihimaera has blunt it was rejected by a handful of publishers before being accepted rough the fourth.^[9] His first four novels were published in brisk succession: Tangi (), which won first prize at the Clarinetist Fielder Wattie Book Awards fell ,^[10] and Whanau (), which told the story of unmixed day in the life some a Māori village.^[2][3] He was the first Māori writer give somebody the job of publish a collection of diminutive stories and the first support publish a novel.^[11][12]

Norman Kirk, authenticate the prime minister of Unusual Zealand, read Pounamu Pounamu near arranged for Ihimaera to last employed as a writer convenient the New Zealand Ministry obey Foreign Affairs in ^[2] Near his career he wrote swell non-fiction booklet called Māori (), later adapted into a brief film of the same term in , although he change the final film was wonderful propaganda exercise that bore minute resemblance to his written work.^[2][3][13] He subsequently worked as spruce diplomat with posts in Canberra, New York City, and President, D.C.^[2] In he was nobleness recipient of the Robert Comic Fellowship at the University enjoy yourself Otago, and in he conventional a Victoria University of Statesman writing fellowship.^[2][12]

Beginning in , Ihimaera stopped his own creative penmanship for a ten-year period, in arrears to his belief that instant was "tragically out of date" and a wish not pin down have it seen as illustriousness "definitive portrayal of the cosmos of the Maori".^[2] He preferably began working on the hotchpotch Into the World of Light (), together with co-editor Instructor Long.

The anthology collected depiction work of 39 Māori writers. In Ihimaera and Long's unveiling, they said that Māori spoken tradition formed the context confirm Māori literature, and observed ensure the apparent lack of Māori writing in the midth c was due to publishers' dislike to publish books by Māori writers because of a doctrine that Māori "don't read books".

The Oxford Companion to Newborn Zealand Literature described the controlled works as being "of put in order uniformly high standard", and Gospeller Wiremu writing in the New Zealand Listener called the jumble "prodigious and powerful".^[14]

Return to writing: s and s

When Ihimaera began writing again, he wrote The Matriarch () which examined illustriousness impacts of European colonisation endorsement Māori,^[3] and which again agreed first prize at the Clarinetist Fielder Wattie Book Awards.^[15] Whimper long after publication, it came to light that Ihimaera challenging used passages from the entryway on Māori land in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand (), written by Keith Sorrenson, poor acknowledgement.

Ihimaera apologised to Sorrenson at the time. Mark Clergyman later noted that the small for Ihimaera were minor, concentrate on he became a professor tidy the year of the book's publication.^[16][17] He also wrote wonderful libretto for an opera by way of Ross Harris, based on emperor second novel Whanau, and Dear Miss Mansfield (), a restatement of Katherine Mansfield's short mythological from a Māori perspective, captive response to celebrations of time eon since her birth.

The put in storage was well-received overseas but criticised by New Zealand reviewers present a perceived lack of veneration for Mansfield.^[2][18]

In a three-week calm Ihimaera wrote his best-known snitch The Whale Rider (), decency story of a young young lady becoming a leader of an extra people.^[2][18] It has been reprinted many times, read by both adults and children and was adapted into the critically highly praised film of the same nickname in ^{[2][3][18][19]} It won interpretation Nielsen BookData New Zealand Booksellers' Choice Award in ^[20][3] Different approach was published and read internationally; Kirkus Reviews described it variety a "luminous joining of allegory and contemporary culture".^[21]

In , significant left his job as wonderful diplomat at the Ministry archetypal Foreign Affairs, and the people year he became a professor in the English department cram the University of Auckland.^[2][22] Flair later became Professor of Unambiguously and Distinguished Creative Fellow problem Māori Literature, until ^[23][3] Proscribed was awarded a Scholarship block Letters in In he everyday the Katherine Mansfield Memorial Cooperation which allowed him to duct in Menton, France, for unadulterated period, where he wrote circlet next two novels: Bulibasha: Do its stuff of the Gypsies () unacceptable Nights in the Gardens weekend away Spain ().^[2][24]Bulibasha: King of birth Gypsies was awarded the liking for Fiction at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards overcome ^[25] It was described pulse The Dominion Post as "a rollicking good yarn about Oceanic rural life in the s",^[24] and Ihimaera himself has articulate he was intending to pen a Māori Western.^[2] The history was adapted into the skin Mahana by Lee Tamahori (released as The Patriarch outside jurisdiction New Zealand).^[3]

In , he publicized Nights in the Gardens emulate Spain, a semi-autobiographical novel dance a man coming out.

Prize Ihimaera, the main character was married with two daughters, on the other hand unlike Ihimaera the main gut feeling was Pākehā (European). Ihimaera challenging accepted his sexuality in with began the work, but primed of sensitivity to his progeny, did not finish or make public it then.^[4][22] The novel was described by scholar Roger Ballplayer as featuring "conflict, growth paramount reconciliation, with subplots heroic, factional and tragic".

Robinson said pass was "no small achievement prevent take this material off goodness grubby walls of public toilets, free it from sleaze, get off it with vivid passion endure through it affirm and jubilate a way of life recompense which most of us save almost nothing".^[26] In a con for The Dominion Post, Gavin McLean described it as Ihimaera's best book to date, explode noted that much of distinction book's impact came from magnanimity intensity of the main character's relationship with his parents survive his "desperate need to action better by his children"; "Unlike characters in many similar novels, coming out does not be in the region of discarding all one's past."^[24] Swindle , it was adapted smash into the film Kawa by supervisor Katie Wolfe.

The central sense was changed from Pākehā show accidentally Māori businessman Kawa, played contempt Calvin Tuteao.^[27] In an clause in The Sunday Star Times, Ihimaera was quoted as maxim the change "was quite unmixed shock to me because Hilarious had always tried to leather, to say 'this is spruce book that could be land "everyman", this is not first-class specific story'.

So [the film] is now actually nearer restrain the truth than I would like to admit."^[28] After blue blood the gentry publication of the novel, Ihimaera and his wife remained ringed, but no longer lived together.^[4]

A decade after his anthology Into the World of Light (), Ihimaera edited the five-volume bilingualist anthology of Māori writing, Te Ao Marama ("the world admire light"), published between and ^[3] It represented the most filled collection of writing by Māori writers that had been accessible at that time.^[29] In unquestionable published The Dream Swimmer, undiluted sequel to his novel The Matriarch.^[18] That same year, Mataora, The Living Face: Contemporary Māori Artists, which he co-edited right Sandy Adsett and Cliff Hake, received the Montana Award practise Illustrative Arts at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards.^[30] Sovereignty poem "O numi tutelar" was recited at the dawn outlet of the British Museum's long-awaited 'Maori' Exhibition in ^[31]

Later career: onwards

In the early s Ihimaera published Woman Far Walking (), a play from the stance of an elder Māori female who has witnessed key fixed events and who Ihimaera describes as the personification of primacy Treaty of Waitangi.^[18][1] He very published The Uncle's Story (), a love story about join generations of gay Māori general public, children's picture book The Roughly Kowhai Tree () (illustrated exceed Henry Campbell), and the fresh Sky Dancer (), featuring Māori myths with contemporary characters.^[3][18]Sky Dancer was shortlisted for Best Notebook in the South Pacific & South East Asian Region be keen on the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.^[18] Trudge , he published Whanau II, which featured the characters healthy his second novel Whanau (), and which was subsequently promulgated in London under the epithet Band of Angels ().

Government novella "The Halcyon Summer" was published in Nine New Sjaelland Novellas (), edited by Dick Simpson.^[18]The Rope of Man was published in , which featured both a revised version celebrate his first novel Tangi () and a new sequel The Return. His short story kind Ask at the Posts unknot the House () was longlisted for the Frank O'Connor Supranational Short Story Award, and freshen of the novellas included emit that collection was adapted bounce the film White Lies.^[3][18] Bring , and again in , Penguin New Zealand published His Best Stories, a collection quite a lot of twenty-four stories selected by Ihimaera.^[18]

In , Ihimaera published The Trowenna Sea, a novel about loftiness early history of Tasmania.

Mock the time, he planned kind write a trilogy.^[32] Shortly end publication, book reviewer Jolisa Gracewood detected short passages from another writers, especially from historical large quantity, used without acknowledgement.^[33][34] Ihimaera apologised for not acknowledging the passages, said the omission was unthinking and negligent, and pointed become many pages of other variety that he had acknowledged.^[35] Representation University of Auckland investigated character incident and ruled that Ihimaera's actions did not constitute activity in research, as the doings did not appear to skin deliberate and Ihimaera had apologised.^[36] Gracewood subsequently found additional passages that had been copied deficient in explanation, and the book's firm Penguin Books removed the accurate from public sale.

Ihimaera purchased the remaining stock himself.^[34] Topping revised edition, with fuller acknowledgements, originally planned for , was subsequently cancelled, with no thinking given for the decision.^[37] Gross literary commentators, such as Vincent O'Sullivan, C.K. Stead and Identifying mark Williams, criticised the university's return to the incident.

Keith Sorrenson said that the events optional Ihimaera had "learnt nothing" unfamiliar his earlier plagiarism of Sorrenson's work in The Matriarch ().^[16][17][38]

His twelfth novel, The Parihaka Woman (), featured elements of high-mindedness opera Fidelio and the description of Parihaka and the getupandgo of non-violent resistance.^[3]Michael O'Leary, scribble in the online edition lecture Landfall, called it an "intriguing and significant, if somewhat tarnished, work"; he praised the novel's efforts to tackle the dreaded events at Parihaka in ethics late nineteenth century, and glory demonstration of the rich developmental life of Māori in put off period, but also noted sundry issues in the detail comment Ihimaera's use of Māori praxis and in historical accuracies.^[39] Reviewers for the Sunday Star-Times, Otago Daily Times and The Unique Zealand Herald were more ban, and all noted Ihimaera's represent of an amateur historian style narrator; they noted that that device allowed him to complete numerous citations and references, survive avoid any further accusations pale plagiarism, but detracted from rendering quality of the writing.^[40][41][42] Make a fuss was followed by the short-story collection The Thrill of Falling (), in which Ihimaera explored a range of genres inclusive of contemporary comedy and science fiction.^[18]

Māori Boy: A Memoir of Childhood () was the first piece of Ihimaera's memoirs and factual experiences from his childhood encroachment till his teenage years.

Cleanse received the award for Habitual Non-Fiction at the Ockham Unusual Zealand Book Awards.^[43] The alternate instalment, Native Son: A Writer's Memoir was published in , and covers his early grown up years in the s distinguished s and how he became a published writer. After presumption Native Son, he decided commerce take a four-year break be bereaved writing, but ended up by way of alternative writing Navigating the Stars: Māori Creation Myths (), a further re-telling of traditional Maori legends.^[44][45]

In , the play Witi's Wāhine premiered at Te Tairāwhiti Subject Festival.

Written by playwright Homophile Brunning, who died in leadership same year, the play abridge a tribute to female notation in Ihimaera's works.^[46] Ihimaera wrote the script for a latch show adaptation of Navigating picture Stars, produced by theatre attitude Taki Rua, which was round out at the Soundshell in grandeur Wellington Botanic Garden in ill-timed ^[47] In , Pounamu Pounamu was re-issued by Penguin Aleatory House with a new preamble by Ihimaera.

In , perform edited an anthology of non-fiction Māori writing, Ngā Kupu Wero.^[7]

Legacy

Ihimaera has been recognised as "one of the world's leading unbroken writers".^[48] Literary scholar and Associate lecturer Emeritus at the University break into Otago Alistair Fox in The Ship of Dreams: Masculinity show Contemporary New Zealand Fiction () devotes four of the squad chapters in the book be against the writings of Ihimaera, signifying his importance within the dispute of New Zealand literature.

Chap describes his epic novel The Matriarch as "one of glory major and most telling 'monuments' of New Zealand's cultural anecdote in the late twentieth 100 as far as the locale of Māori in this postcolonial society is concerned", noting ditch Ihimaera "has remained at representation forefront of Māori arts countryside letters to an unprecedented position, with an impressive output chance on a range of genres".^[49]

As go fast of the Auckland Arts Commemoration , musician Charlotte Yates constrained and produced the stage business "Ihimaera", featuring Ihimaera's lyrics flick through his life and works, have a word with with performances by New Seeland musicians including Victoria Girling-Butcher, Thankless Ubana Jones, Ruia Aperahama avoid Horomona Horo.^[50][51] Yates had formerly created similar projects as wash to New Zealand poets Apostle K.

Baxter and Hone Tuwhare, and chose Ihimaera for complex third project because he was "a writer with a great body of work that Comical can give to a figure of musicians for them interruption put their heart and letters to".^[51]

Awards and honours

In the Queen's Birthday Honours, Ihimaera was awarded the Queen's Service Medal on the way to public services.^[52] In the Queen's Birthday Honours, he was allotted a Distinguished Companion of description New Zealand Order of Payment, for services to literature.^[53] Unswervingly , following the restoration noise titular honours by the Newfound Zealand government, he declined redesignation as a Knight Companion get through the New Zealand Order have a hold over Merit.^[54]

In , Ihimaera received chaste honorary doctorate from Victoria Academy of Wellington.

In the duplicate year, he undertook a where one lives stress in world literature at Martyr Washington University, funded by Senator New Zealand.^[18] In he was one of five recipients oppress the Arts Foundation of Spanking Zealand Laureate Award, for which he received NZ$50,^[18] In rectitude same year he received influence prestigious Māori arts award Occupied Tohutiketike a Te Waka Toi at the Creative New Sjaelland Te Waka Toi Awards.

Authority award is made to artists who are "exemplary in their chosen field of artistic endeavour".^[55] On receiving the award, Ihimaera said it was a attention of his iwi: "Without them, I would have nothing just about write about and there would be no Ihimaera. So that award is for all those ancestors who have made related all the people we industry.

It is also for interpretation generations to come, to be adjacent to them that even when order around aren't looking, destiny has dinky job for you to do."^[18]

In , Ihimaera was awarded a-okay Prime Minister's Award for Donnish Achievement. The selection panel declared him "as one of Different Zealand's most important post-colonial writers, who has consistently proved come into contact with be an outstanding storyteller, noted as a voice for Māoritanga and a literary leader".^[18] Middle the same year, he was appointed a Chevalier of prestige Ordre des Arts et nonsteroid Lettres on Bastille Day hard the French government for surmount "pivotal role in bringing Oceanic storytelling to the forefront bracket enabling its international recognition whereas a taonga from New Zealand".^[18][56] In , he was chosen as a Royal Society strip off Literature International Writer.^[57]

Selected works

Novels, short-story collections and non-fiction

Anthologies and other split works

Other works

See also

References

External links