He pakipoto mā ngā kaipānui katoa i roto tonu i te reo Māori – a collection of short stories for all in te reo Māori.

He rangatahi ngākau whiwhita ki ngā waka tetere. He kairapuhara wahine Māori e mahitahi ana ki roto i te ao kikokiko me te ao atua. He kaihoahoa hūmārie ka tukirae atu ki tētehi manuwhiri i te rārangi harirū.

Nā te kairīpoata rongonui a Atakohu Middleton tēnei kohikohinga tuatahitanga o ngā pakipoto ka tuhia katoatia ki te reo Māori. He rerekē ngā wā. He matatini ngā momo pakipoto. He tini ngā reo. Ka kite ngā kaipānui i ngā kōrero pirihimana, ngā paki ā-whānau, ngā kōrero pohewa me ngā pakipoto e pā ana hoki ki te huringa taiohi hei pakeke. He mea tuhi ki te reo ngāwari kia pai ai mā ngā tauira wharekura me ngā tauira kua eke ki te taumata waenga. He pakipoto whakaihiihi, he mea titi ki te ngākau hoki mō Aotearoa o nāianei.

Mā te tuhinga a Atakohu Middleton ka ngahau ngā tāngata matatau ki te reo tae atu ki ērā anō tāngata i runga i tō rātou ara reo Māori.

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A car-crazy rangatahi with a need for speed. A tenacious wahine Māori detective whose work straddles the worlds of humans and gods. A mild-mannered architect who headbutts a manuwhiri in the harirū line.

From well-known journalist Atakohu Middleton comes Aotearoa’s first collection of short stories written entirely in te reo Māori. The stories span time, genres and voices – readers will find police procedurals and family dramas, fantasy stories and coming-of-age yarns. Written in accessible reo Māori aimed at wharekura students and language learners from intermediate level up, this is gripping and exciting writing for contemporary Aotearoa.

Author

Kua neke atu i te toru tekau tau a Tākuta Atakohu Middleton (Waikato, Pākehā) e mahi ana hei kaikawekōrero. I te tau 2005, nōna e mahi ana i te Hērora o Aotearoa, ka kopoua ia hei Commonwealth Press Union Harry Brittain Fellow mō Aotearoa, ā, e ono ngā paraihe kaipūrongo kua riro i a ia mō āna tuhinga. Kua mahi hoki hei kaiako matua i Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau. Nā tāna tuhinga tākutatanga i ara mai ai tana pukapuka tuatahi, arā, Kia Hiwa Rā! Māori Journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand (Huia Publishers, 2023).

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Atakohu Middleton (Waikato, Pākehā) has worked as a reporter and feature writer for three decades. She held the Commonwealth Press Union Harry Brittain Fellowship for New Zealand in 2005 while working at The New Zealand Herald and has won six national media awards for news and feature writing. She has also been a senior lecturer at AUT. Her first book, Kia Hiwa Rā! Māori Journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand (Huia Publishers, 2023), was based on her PhD thesis.

Endorsements

‘Kei te hunga e iri mārō nei ki te reo Māori, e hiamo nei kia rere ōna karu i ngā kupu reo Māori kua tāngia ki te whārangi, waiho mā ā Te Atakohu kupu tō ngākau e ārahi ki ōna kāpuhipuhitanga me ōna rētōtanga. Ko Hirikapo i rere, ko Whatumanawa i rewa, ko Kare ā-Roto i pupū kau noa ake i taku pānui i te kohinga kuru pounamu nei.’

— Donovan Te Ahunui Farnham

‘There has been a noticeable gap between children’s readers in te reo Māori and the more advanced, high-end translated works – Waka Aroha begins to fill that space beautifully. The reo is of high quality and I think it will connect fluidly with intermediate readers while still offering depth and challenge for those more proficient in te reo. This is a taonga that I can engage with to continue my own reo journey. Further, my tamariki and all our mokopuna are eventually going to be beneficiaries of this work, nā kona, e kore a mihi e mutu ki a Atakohu me tōna kaha ki te poipoi i te ora, i te mauri o te reo Māori, mō ngā mokopuna te take.’

— Tākuta Valance Smith

‘Kī pai tēnei kohinga i ngā momo aroha katoa. Ko te murimuri aroha ki ngā mahi me ngā tohe a ngā tūpuna. Ko te mateoha ki te hunga e tāmia nuitia ana me rātou kei te tū hei pou tautiaki i te wā pōkaikaha. Ko te aroha nui ki ngā kōrero ā-whānau me ngā pāpā haututū rawa. Nei anō ngā mihi e rere nei ki te waka i tāraitia ai e Atakohu. Koia hei kawe i ōna ake wawata ki te hunga ngākaunui ki te reo Māori: kia reo Māori te paki, kia tuhia ngā paki mā te hapori reo Māori, me te aha, kia tōia mai te hunga kāore i te matatau rawa kia paku matatau kē atu i te mutunga o te pānuitanga. E tino mihi ana ki tāna i koha mai ai hei waka eke noa mā tātou. Tangohia, hokona, pānuihia!’

— Tākuta Darryn Joseph