Witi Ihimaera
Witi Ihimaera is a celebrated Māori author, best known for his exploration of Māori culture and identity through his writing. Born in 1944 in Waituhi, New Zealand, he gained international acclaim with his 1987 novel, *The Whale Rider*, which not only became a bestseller but also inspired a successful film adaptation in 2002. Ihimaera's literary career includes numerous award-winning works such as *Pounamu Pounamu* and *Tangi*, which helped position him as a significant voice in New Zealand literature. Throughout his career, he has received multiple accolades, including being named a Distinguished Companion of the Order of New Zealand and a Laureate of the New Zealand Arts Foundation.
Ihimaera's works often reflect his upbringing in Waituhi, presenting a unique perspective on the Māori experience. He has also ventured into autobiographical writing, as seen in his memoirs, which delve into his personal life and identity. In addition to his literary achievements, Ihimaera has contributed to fostering understanding of Māori culture through various roles, including diplomatic postings. His passion for storytelling and deep connection to his heritage have made him a pivotal figure in bringing Māori narratives to a global audience.
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Witi Ihimaera
Author
- Born: 7 February 1944
- Place of Birth: Gisborne, New Zealand
Witi Ihimaera is a prolific writer whose works frequently focus on Māori culture. His 1987 novel The Whale Rider became an international success, spawning a film adaptation in 2002. Many of his other novels and stories have been both critically acclaimed and award-winning. In recognition of his work, he was made a Distinguished Companion of the Order of New Zealand in 2004, was named a Laureate of the New Zealand Arts Foundation in 2009, and won a NZ Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in 2017, among other honors.
Background
Witi Ihimaera was born Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler in Waituhi, near Gisborne, New Zealand, in 1944. He attended the Te Karaka Area School in the rural area north of Gisborne and then went to the Mormon Church College in Tuhikaramea for a year before completing his University Entrance at Gisborne Boys' High School. From an early age, he was interested in writing—he was even known to write entire stories across the walls of his room. From 1963 through 1966, he studied at Auckland University but left to pursue a career as a journalist; he ended up taking a job as a postal worker not long after. In 1969, he enrolled at Victoria University in Wellington and completed his bachelor's degree in 1971. It was while he attended the university that he wrote his first published short story, "The Liar," which appeared in the NZ Listener.
Ihimaera's first published book was Pounamu Pounamu (1972), which won third prize in the 1972 Wattie Book of the Year Awards. This collection of short stories caught the attention of then New Zealand prime minister Norman Kirk, who recruited Ihimaera to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During his tenure with the ministry (which lasted until 1989), Ihimaera served in a number of diplomatic posts in New York City; Canberra, Australia; and Washington, DC. He also spent a great deal of time writing.
Life's Work
Ihimaera's passion and appreciation for his own culture serve as his most distinguishing features as a writer who found international acclaim. Most of his works, he revealed in interviews, are representative of his perspective of the world in which he lived: that it is Māori in nature, not European.
Central to most of Ihimaera's works is the village of Waituhi, in which he was born and raised. Although his representation of the village and its residents is not necessarily autobiographical, Ihimaera includes Waituhi and its people as illustrations of his singular view of the Māori experience. His passion for storytelling was evidenced by the fact that he wrote and published Pounamu Pounamu only a year before his novel Tangi (1973), which was completed, in turn, only a few months before another novel, Whanau (1974). The former two were nominated for the Wattie Awards during their respective years of publication (the first won first prize, the second garnered third prize). Ihimaera continued his prolific writing through the early 1980s; he also edited the anthology Into the World of Light, a collection of Māori writing, which was published in 1982. Concerned that, during a period of Māori activism, his works might be taken as the "definitive portrayal" of Māori life rather than simply relating his own experiences, Ihimaera took a brief hiatus from writing thereafter.
In 1986, Ihimaera returned to writing and to his fictionalized version of the community of Waituhi. The Matriarch provided a more in-depth examination of the village's culture and history. A year later, The Whale Rider was published. The book, his most well-known novel, describes how a young girl's relationship with a whale leads to the salvation of Waituhi. In 2003, Whale Rider became a major motion picture, internationally distributed and highly acclaimed.
Ihimaera's highly prolific writing continued over the decades, as the author continued to explore not only his heritage but himself. In 1996, he wrote one of his most personal novels, Nights in the Gardens of Spain. The novel, which deals with a married man coming out as gay, is semiautobiographical, though the novel's protagonist, unusually for Ihimaera, is not Māori. Ihimaera suggested that this was an effort to distance the character's experience from his own and make him more of an "everyman," although he later expressed regret over the decision. Nights in the Gardens of Spain was adapted into a film with a Māori protagonist, Kawa, in 2010. Ihimaera took an even more directly autobiographical approach with the nonfiction works Māori Boy: A Memoir of Childhood (2014) and Native Son: The Writer’s Memoir (2019).
In light of the success and uniqueness of his works, Ihimaera became highly decorated in literary and national circles. Among the recognitions he received are an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Victoria University; the first Star of Oceania Award; a 2009 laureate award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation; and the Toi Māori Maui Tiketike Award in 2011. He was named a Distinguished Companion of the Order of New Zealand in 2004. In 2009, he was selected as a Laureate of the New Zealand Arts Foundation. In 2017, the New Zealand government presented him with a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement, and the French government appointed him a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Impact
As a passionate writer on Māori life and heritage, Ihimaera helped to introduce the Māori experience to the entire world. When he won the Te Tohutiketike a Te Waka Toi award, the premier Māori arts award, in 2009, he acknowledged the role his family and culture played in his success, stating that without his heritage, his accomplishments as a writer would never have been.
Personal Life
Ihimaera married Jane Cleghorn in 1970 after they met at university; they remained married but lived separately after Ihimaera came out as gay. They had two daughters together, Olivia and Jessica.
Bibliography
Dekker, Diana. "Witi Ihimaera's Charmed Life." Stuff.co.nz, 10 June 2013, www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/8763358/Witi-Ihimaeras-charmed-life. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.
Ihimaera, Witi. "Toward Our Ancient Futures: An Interview with Witi Ihimaera." Interview by Anna Knox. Wasafiri, vol. 38, no. 3, 2023, pp. 86-93, doi.org/10.1080/02690055.2023.2208971. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.
Tay, Karen. "Witi Ihimaera—The Life of a Māori Boy." New Zealand Herald, 23 May 2005, www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c‗id=6&objectid=10126837. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.
"Witi Ihimaera." Academy of New Zealand Literature, www.anzliterature.com/member/witi-ihimaera/. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.
"Witi Ihimaera." The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi, www.thearts.co.nz/artists/witi-ihimaera. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.
"Witi Ihimaera." NZ On Screen, www.thearts.co.nz/artists/witi-ihimaera. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.
"Witi Ihimaera." Read NZ Te Pou Muramura, www.read-nz.org/writers-files/writer/ihimaera-witi. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.