Literature of the Pacific: Māori Literature

"Switching between first person and third person, this loose narrative of developers trying to build a resort on Maori land revolves around the family of Roimata Kararaina and her husband, Hemi Tamihana. Although land development is the central theme, Grace, the New Zealand author of several novels and short-story collections, is at her best portraying the lives of her characters, from their daily tasks (eel-fishing and cooking) to the stories they tell-both real hard-luck stories and ancestral myths." Publisher's Weekly

"Kerewin Holmes is a reclusive painter who is trying to pick up the pieces of her life. Joe Gillayley is a widower who maintains a love hate relationship with his adoptive son and is searching for human companionship. Simon Gillayley is a mute seven-year-old who is lovable but notorious for his sudden outbursts of violence and theft. When the three first come together, their lives are blissful; spending their nights drinking and enjoying their friendship. As time goes on, Joe’s violence towards Simon is revealed, prompting Kerewin to become more involved in the Gillayley family." Book Rags

"Duffʻs harrowing vision of his countryʻs indigenous people two hundred years after the English conquest. This novel tells the story of Beth Heke, a Māori woman struggling to keep her family from falling apart, despite the squalor and violence of the housing project in which her family lives." Back cover

"After a devastating pandemic, Hoeria and Kevin travel through a decimated landscape to fulfill a promise. What they discover is a world where myth has become real."

"Her family have departed. They have all departed. All of them. All Maori." Back cover

In 1800s Mere yearns for independence. Ira wants the same but as the descendant of a slave, such things are hardly conceivable.

In this interesting, eclectic selection from eight of his books (plus some new poems), he writes exuberantly of his native land. His skills include a colloquial bend to his language, a bawdy sense of humor, and a deep feeling for people and nature... .He writes in many poetic forms, from haiku to chants to elegies, and has obviously studied the masters; one senses in his poetry the clever humor of e.e. cummings, Williams's praise of dailiness, the iambic pentameter of the Bible, and, in some poems, the concision of Japanese poetry. In one poem, Tuwhare asks, "Where have all the/Maori gone, for Chrissake?" We are grateful that the poetry of at least one of them has finally crossed the Pacific to our shores. " Library Journal

"Robert Sullivan uses the image of the waka as a container for the freight of history—personal, familial, tribal, national. The waka, he says, ‘is a knife through time’, connecting the pre-contact past with the urban present and sailing on towards a possible, if fancifully configured, extraterrestrial future. The waka morphs as it travels, from primeval first fleet to space ship." - The Auckland University Press Anthology of New Zealand Literature.

Masonʻs poetry reflects her life of a person living in two worlds...."there is pagan faith, Christian beliefs, ancestors and dancers, customs and politics, migrants an immigrants...." Back cover

The short stories in this collection explore a word where traditional stores become a part of everyday contemporary lie. T"he old world and the new world coexist, cultures mingle and magic happens."

"A collection of stories populated by a centaur like tarantula, a rude doppelgancer, creatures from the mystic past, children masked an prophetic and forebears whose deeds live on in family stories and dreams" Back cover

Short stories, poetry, song and drama from Māori writers including Hone Tuwhare, Renee, Apirana Taylor and Kai Tainui. Works portray the Māori experience of retaining culture in a contemporary society.

A collection of short stories by the author of _Whale Rider_. It includes "The Makutu on Mrs. Jones" a short story about how Mr. Hohepa conquers the Pākehā mailmwomen, Mrs. Jones.

"Today is Tiriʻs birthday...She is 160 years old, the oldest women in the world...a woman who has been at war all her life. This play is about history, women, how nations are made and how the human spirits survives to carry us through the new millennium." Back cover.

"The year is 1965. A Māori family, recently migrated to the South Island from the North Island, prepares to celebrate a birthday with their Pākehā guests. This play explores the different interpretations of home and belonging.

"The Prophet takes place within the confines of a basketball court over three days. Five cousins from around the country - and all very different - meet up for the unveiling of a headstone for their cousin Joshua who has committed suicide a year earlier. Like real life, Joshua was a high achiever. He was special. He was a prophet. " Huia