Te Kaikaukau The Swimmer: I Te Ao O Te Reo by Witi Ihimaera Smiler

New Zealand’s leading Māori writer decides at eighty to learn te reo Māori. 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.

Publisher:	Auckland University Press
Year:	2026
Binding:	Hardback
ISBN:	9781776712380
Condition:	Mint
Description:	DJ.

Note: This image is from a stock photo and may differ from the actual cover.

SKU: 1596262
Location: NZ Bio