New Zealand’s leading Māori writer decides at eighty to go back and learn his own language – and write about it.

Novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera – author of Pounamu, Pounamu and The Whale Rider – decided, at the age of eighty, to dive back into the water and spend a year full time at Te Wānanga Takiura, immersing himself in his own language, in te reo Māori.

This book tells the story of this kaikaukau, this swimmer, and his year i te ao o te reo – of sinking and floating; of loss and shame, connection and wairua; of fathers and teachers, kuia and friends.

A riveting and revealing memoir, Te Kaikaukau | The Swimmer sparkles with whaikōrero and whakataukī and is written for all – Māori and Pākehā, fluent reo Māori speakers and those for whom the language is still a mystery, a dream, an aspiration.

It is the story of a Māori New Zealander reclaiming his voice, history and whakapapa in contemporary Aotearoa. Of becoming Witi Ihimaera Smiler and drawing closer to his desire to write a novel in te reo for his beloved father Tom and his tīpuna. 

Author

Witi Ihimaera Smiler DCNZM, QSM, was born in Gisborne and is of Te Whānau-a-Kai, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata and Ngāti Porou descent with connections to Tūhoe, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāi Tāmanuhiri. Diplomat, professor and one of Aotearoa’s most distinguished living writers, his many books include Pounamu, Pounamu (1972), The Matriarch (1986) and The Whale Rider (1987), made into a hugely successful film in 2002 and also translated into te reo Māori by Tīmoti Kāretu. He has received numerous awards, including the Wattie Book of the Year, the Montana Book Award and a Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement. In 2004 he became a Distinguished Companion of the Order of New Zealand and in 2017 France made him Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He is, today, recognised as one of the world’s leading contemporary indigenous authors and thinkers. He lives in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.

Endorsements

‘This personal work of exposure, confession and humility is about learning to stand “at the centre of your own ignorance,” becoming a student again in (relatively) old age in order to address one of the key issues of colonisation, the removal of language and its embedded cultural knowledge. When Witi says “I have started at the beginning again,” it is a rallying call for all of us to overcome our feelings of shame and inadequacy, to take up the challenge of embarking on “a new and enthralling journey.”’ — Paula Morris

‘E poho kererū ana ahau i a Witi, i tōna kaha, i tōna manawaroa, i tōna ngākau titikaha hoki ki te ū ki te ako i tōna reo rangatira. I smiled and laughed, working my way through Witi’s new pukapuka in Māori, imagining him standing to present these whakapuaki at Takiura. Witi’s stories about his upbringing, his kāinga at Waituhi, ōna kuia, ōna mātua, tōna tamaititanga, and all of it, in te reo Māori, are a true inspiration. Nāna hoki te kōrero, okea wheketia! Koia kei a koe, e te hoa.’ — Hēmi Kelly