Witi Ihimaera

Witi Ihimaera DCNZM QSM
Ihimaera in October 2012
Born	Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler (1944-02-07) 7 February 1944 (age 75) near Gisborne, New Zealand
Occupation	Writer
Literature portal

Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler DCNZM QSM (born 7 February 1944), generally known as Witi Ihimaera /ˈwɪti ɪhiˈmaɪrə/, is a New Zealand author. He was the first published Māori novelist.^[1]

Contents

• 
  1 Early life
  


• 
  2 Career
  


• 
  3 Literature
  
  
  
  • 
    3.1 Contributions to New Zealand literature and culture
    
  
  
  • 
    3.2 Accusations of plagiarism
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  4 Awards and honours
  


• 
  5 Works
  
  
  
  • 
    5.1 Novels
    
  
  
  • 
    5.2 Short stories
    
  
  
  • 
    5.3 Short story collections
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  6 See also
  


• 
  7 References
  


• 
  8 External links
  

Early life

Ihimaera was born near Gisborne, a town in the east of New Zealand's North Island and is of Māori descent (Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki) and Anglo-Saxon descent through his father, Tom. He attended Church College of New Zealand in Temple View, Hamilton, New Zealand.

Career

He is commonly believed to have been the first Māori writer to publish both a novel^[2] and a book of short stories.

He began to work as a diplomat at the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1973, and served at various diplomatic posts in Canberra, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Ihimaera remained at the Ministry until 1989, although his time there was broken by several fellowships at the University of Otago in 1975 and Victoria University of Wellington in 1982 (where he graduated with a BA).^[2] In 1990, he took up a position at the University of Auckland, where he became Professor, and Distinguished Creative Fellow in Māori Literature. He retired from this position in 2010.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, his nephew Gary Christie Lewis married Lady Davina Windsor, becoming the first Māori to marry into the British royal family.^[3][4]

Literature

Contributions to New Zealand literature and culture

Most of Ihimaera's work consists of short stories or novels. He has written a considerable number of stories, with the most notable being works such as Yellow Brick Road, Tangi, Pounamu, Pounamu, and The Whale Rider (the last of which became a film of the same name).^[2] His stories generally portray Māori culture in modern New Zealand. His work often focuses on problems within contemporary Māori society.

In 1995, Ihimaera published Nights in the Gardens of Spain, a semi-autobiographical work about a married father of two daughters coming out. The main character in the book was Pākehā (European), Ihimaera's way of keeping his personal experiences somewhat concealed. He had come out to himself in 1984 and began the work, but out of sensitivity to his daughters, did not finish or publish it then.^[5]Nights In The Gardens Of Spain was filmed in 2010 (Director; Katie Wolfe – run time 76-mins featuring Calvin Tuteao in the central role of 'Kawa'^[6]) with changes to the book, making the central character Māori rather than Pākehā, to more closely reflect Ihimaera's life. In an article in The Sunday Star Times^[7] Ihimaera was quoted as saying the change "was quite a shock to me because I had always tried to hide, to say this is a book that could be about 'everyman', this is not a specific story. So it (the film) is actually nearer to the truth than I would like to admit."^[8]

Literary scholar and Professor Emeritus at the University of Otago Alistair Fox in The Ship of Dreams: Masculinity in Contemporary New Zealand Fiction (2008) devotes four out of the eleven chapters in the book to the writings of Ihimaera indicating his importance within the context of New Zealand literature. Fox describes his epic novel The Matriarch as "one of the major and most telling 'monuments' of New Zealand's cultural history in the late twentieth century as far as the situation of Māori in this postcolonial society is concerned," noting that Ihimaera "has remained at the forefront of Māori arts and letters to an unprecedented degree, with an impressive output across a range of genres."^[9]

Accusations of plagiarism

In 2009 book reviewer Jolisa Gracewood detected short passages from other writers, especially from historical sources, used without acknowledgement in Ihimaera's historical novel The Trowenna Sea, a work on the early history of Tasmania.^[10][11] Confronted by The Listener magazine with this evidence, Ihimaera apologized for not acknowledging the passages, claiming this was inadvertent and negligent and pointing to many pages of other sources that he had acknowledged.^[12] The University of Auckland investigated the incident and ruled that Ihimaera's actions did not constitute misconduct in research, as the actions did not appear to be deliberate and Ihimaera had apologised.^[13] Ihimaera removed the book from public sale, purchasing the remaining stock himself. A revised edition, with fuller acknowledgements, originally planned for 2010, has since been cancelled.^[14]

Awards and honours

In 2004, he was made a Distinguished Companion in the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature. When in 2009, Prime Minister John Key restored the honours to their pre-April 2000 state, Distinguished Companions were given the option to convert their awards into knighthoods. Witi was one of a small minority of such members to decline.^[2][15]

Works

Memorial plaque dedicated to Witi Ihimaera in Dunedin, on the Writers' Walk on the Octagon

Novels

• 
  The Lair (1972)


• 
  Tangi (1973)


• 
  Whanau (1974)


• 
  The Matriarch (1986)


• 
  The Whale Rider (1987)


• 
  Bulibasha: King of the Gypsies (1994)


• 
  Nights in the Gardens of Spain (1995)


• 
  The Dream Swimmer (1997)


• 
  Woman Far Walking (2000)


• 
  The Uncle's Story (2000)


• 
  Sky Dancer (2004)


• 
  Whanau II (2004)


• 
  The Rope of Man (2005) - features 'Tangi', and its sequel 'The Return'


• 
  Band of Angels (2005)


• 
  The Trowenna Sea (2009)^[16]
  


• 
  The Parihaka Woman (2011)

Short stories

• 
  His First Ball (published 1989 in Dear Miss Mansfield)


• The Makutu on Mrs Jones


• The Seahorse & The Reef

Short story collections

• A Sense of Belonging


• Pounamu Pounamu


• Tangi


• The New Net Goes Fishing


• 
  Growing Up Māori (1989)


• Yellow Brick Road


• Return To Oz


• Ask the Posts of the House


• Dustbins


• The Whale Rider


• Big Brother Little Sister


• The Escalator


• Gathering of the Whakapapa


• Clenched Fist


• Catching Up


• Passing Time


• Kingfisher Come Home


• Masques and Roses


• Where's Waari?


• The Thrill of Falling

See also

• Literature of New Zealand

References

1. 
   ^ Black, Eleanor (12 March 2016). "The Career Diplomat". The Dominion Post - Your Weekend magazine. Wellington. p. 9..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


2. 
   ^ ^abcd Kiriona, Renee (7 June 2008). "Queen's Birthday Honours 2004: Witi Ihimaera". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
   


3. 
   ^ "The Picture that Reveals the Changing Face of the Royal Family... and Families Everywhere". Daily Mail. 20 May 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
   


4. 
   ^ Chapman, Paul; Davies, Caroline (27 July 2004). "A palace wedding for Lady Davina and her sheep-shearing Maori surfer". The Telegraph. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
   


5. 
   ^ Aldrich, Robert; Wotherspoon, Garry (2002). Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History. Routledge. pp. 204–5. ISBN 0-415-29161-5.
   


6. 
   ^ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1754277/
   


7. 
   ^ To coincide with the screening of the film on Television New Zealand (Sunday 23 January 2011 - TV 1, 8.30pm)
   


8. 
   ^ Sunday Star Times, January 23, 2011
   


9. 
   ^ Fox, Alistair (2008). The Ship of Dreams: Masculinity in Contemporary New Zealand Fiction. Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press. pp. 133, 14. ISBN 9781877372544.
   


10. 
    ^ Gracewood, Jolisa (2009). "Keeping it real". The Listener. 221 (3627). Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
    


11. 
    ^ Black, Joanne (2009). "Other people's words". The Listener. 221 (3629). Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
    


12. 
    ^ Savage, Jared (20 November 2009). "Plagiarists 'like drug cheats'". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
    


13. 
    ^ "Witi Ihimaera admits plagiarism". New Zealand Herald. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
    


14. 
    ^ Harper, Paul (21 September 2010). "Controversial novel not republished". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
    


15. 
    ^ "Queen's Birthday Honours 2004". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
    


16. 
    ^ Megan Nicol Reed (18 October 2009). "'I write for the New Zealand I wish it to be'". The Sunday Star-Times. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
    

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Witi Ihimaera

• Māori-language biography, including list of works


• New Zealand Book Council biography


• Extensive bibliography in the New Zealand Literature File

v t e Robert Burns Fellows

1959 Ian Cross 1960 Maurice Duggan 1961 John Caselberg 1962 R.A.K. Mason 1963 Maurice Shadbolt 1964 Maurice Gee 1965 Janet Frame 1966–67 James K. Baxter 1968 Ruth Dallas 1969 Warren Dibble 1970 O. E. Middleton 1971 Noel Hilliard 1972 Ian Wedde 1973 Graham Billing 1974 Hone Tuwhare 1975 Witi Ihimaera 1976 Sam Hunt 1977 Keri Hulme 1977–78 Roger Hall 1978 Peter Olds 1979 Michael A. Noonan 1980 Philip Temple 1981–82 William Sewell 1983 Rawiri Paratene 1984 Brian Turner 1985–86 Cilla McQueen 1987 Robert Lord 1988 John Dickson 1989 Renée 1990 David Eggleton 1991 Lynley Hood 1992 Owen Marshall 1993 Stuart Hoar 1994 Christine Johnston 1995 Elspeth Sandys 1996 Bernadette Hall 1997 Paddy Richardson 1998–99 Michael King 1999 Paula Boock 2000 James Norcliffe 2001 Jo Randerson 2002 Alison Wong 2003 Nick Ascroft 2003 Sarah Quigley 2004 Katherine Duignan 2005–06 Catherine Chidgey 2006 Dianne Ruth Pettis 2007 Laurence Fearnley 2008 Sue Wootton 2009 Michael Harlow 2010 Michele Powles 2011 Fiona Farrell 2012 Emma Neale 2013 David Howard 2014 Majella Cullinane 2015 Louise Wallace 2016 Victor Rodger 2017 Craig Cliff 2018 Rhian Gallagher

v t e Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellows

1970 Owen Leeming 1971 Margaret Scott 1972 C K Stead 1973 James McNeish 1974 Janet Frame 1975 David Mitchell 1976 Michael King 1977 Barry Mitcalfe 1978 Spiro Zavos 1979 Philip Temple 1980 Marilyn Duckworth 1981 Lauris Edmond 1982 Michael Jackson 1983 Allen Curnow 1984 Rowley Habib 1985 Michael Gifkins 1986 Michael Harlow 1987 Russell Haley 1988 Louis Johnson 1989 Lloyd Jones 1990 Lisa Greenwood 1991 Nigel Cox 1992 Maurice Gee 1993 Witi Ihimaera 1994 Vincent O’Sullivan 1995 Fiona Farrell 1996 Owen Marshall 1997 Roger Hall 1998 Maurice Shadbolt 1999 Elizabeth Knox 2000 Stephanie Johnson 2001 Catherine Chidgey 2002 Jenny Bornholdt 2003 Tessa Duder 2004 Bill Manhire 2005 Ian Wedde 2006 Fiona Kidman 2007 Stuart Hoar 2008 Damien Wilkins 2009 Jenny Pattrick 2010 Ken Duncum 2011 Chris Price 2012 Justin Paton 2013 Greg McGee 2014 Mandy Hager 2015 Anna Jackson

Authority control	BNF: cb120640490 (data) GND: 119050277 ISNI: 0000 0000 8117 9727 LCCN: n50031577 NKC: jn19990003881 SELIBR: 287696 SNAC: w6kq1dwb SUDOC: 028900391 VIAF: 39399075 WorldCat Identities (via VIAF): 39399075

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