Godwit, Auckland, Paperback with fold-in edges. 48pp. Uncommon. First printing. Poetry and some prose from the great New Zealand writer Hone Tuwhare.

When Tuwhare’s poems first began to appear in the late 1950s and early 1960s they were recognised as a new departure in New Zealand poetry, cutting across the debates and divisions between the 1930s and post-war generations. Much of the works' originality was the result of their distinctly Maori perspective. The poems were marked by their tonal variety, the naturalness with which they could move between formal and informal registers, between humour and pathos, intimacy and controlled anger and, especially, in their assumption of easy vernacular familiarity with New Zealand readers.

During the 1970s Tuwhare became involved in Maori cultural and political initiatives. This same era also saw his international reputation grow, with invitations to visit both China and Germany, which, among other opportunities, lead to the publication of Was wirklicher ist als Sterben in 1985.

While his earlier poems were kept in print, new work was constantly produced. Tuwhare's play, "In the Wilderness Without a Hat", was published in 1991. Three further collections of poetry then followed: Short Back and Sideways: Poems & Prose (1992), Deep River Talk (1993), and Shape-Shifter (1997). In 1999 he was named New Zealand's second Te Mata Poet Laureate, the outcome of which was the publication Piggy-Back Moon (2002). Please click here to ask a question