Founder Lecture – Witi Ihimaera: Indigenous Envoy: The Māori writer as New Zealand practitioner and indigenous artisan

Witi Ihimaera DCNZM DCM is an acclaimed writer, anthologist and librettist. Witi Ihimaera is an influential figure in New Zealand literature. Over his long career he has won numerous awards for both fiction and non-fiction. Witi was the first Māori writer to publish a collection of short stories, Pounamu, Pounamu, in 1972, and the first to publish a novel, Tangi in 1973. His immensely popular 1987 novel The Whale Rider has been read widely by children and adults both in New Zealand and overseas, and adapted into the critically acclaimed 2002 film. Witi Ihimaera was Professor of English and Distinguished Creative Fellow in Māori Literature until 2010. His memoir, Māori Boy: A Memory of Childhood (2014) won the Ockham Book Award for non-fiction in 2015 and was followed by Native Son: The Writers Memoir. In 2017 Witi received a Prime Minister’s Award for fiction. Witi Ihimaera’s work has been recognised by a Premio Ostana and a Chevalier Des Arts et Lettres. His work has been a set text in Africa and The Whale Rider is currently the subject of a Big Read at Gutenberg University, Germany and honoured text at the IRSCL Ecologies of Childhood Congress, USA, later this year.

Founder Lecture

In his korero, “The Māori writer as New Zealand practitioner” Witi talked about the propulsive energy of whakapapa, the inward spiral, which continues to motivate him and others to write the Māori story, the story of iwi, whanau and tangata within the complexities of an ever-changing Aotearoa New Zealand. The second part of the korero, “The writer as Indigenous artisan” was more personal as Witi traced the outward-moving spiral which, following a 16-year career in Foreign Affairs, motivated him not just “to write the talk but also talk it and walk it” as an international artist. This is the lesser known story or kaupapa, of the Māori writer as an active supporter of indigenous peoples.