Witi Ihimaera on Writers and the Conscience
Gisborne-born author Witi Ihimaera, 72, feels the real role of a writer is to become the conscience of the nation and that Indian writers have set a “fantastic example” by using literature to address…
Tag Archives: Witi Ihimaera
Mahana – Official Trailer
Watch the inspiring trailer for the movie Mahana based on Witi Ihimaera novel Bulibasha and directed by Lee Tamahori. Māori cast also includes Temuera Morrison, Nancy Brunning and Jim…
Lee Tamahori Teams up with Adrien Brody on Emperor
Director Lee Tamahori is in the Czech Republic filming Emperor, a movie based on 16th century Roman ruler Charles V and starring A-lister Adrien Brody. The 64-year-old director of cult 90s film Once Were Warriors…
Cutting Edge Authors This Way Up at London Festival
New Zealand and Australian artists will be showcased in This Way Up, “a festival of seriously good literature, film, music and performance from two countries at the (cutting) edge of the world”, in London…
White Lies | Tuakiri Huna – Theatrical Trailer
Take a look at this feature film, which follows M?ori medicine woman Paraiti who meets a M?ori servant and is drawn into helping a wealthy P?keh? woman with a…
Oscar Foreign-Language Submission a Battle of Wills
Based on the novella Medicine Woman by Witi Ihimaera, New Zealand’s 2014 foreign-language Oscar submission, White Lies (Tuakiri Huna) is a period drama about three women drawn together in conflict. David Rooney, reviewer for the…
Channelling His Ancestors from Canada
New Zealand author Witi Ihimaera is currently in Alberta teaching eight indigenous Canadian writers at the globally respected arts, cultural, and educational institution, Banff Centre. The last time he was there, he began writing what…
Proud of Being a New Zealander: Witi Ihimaera on Edmund Hillary
Witi Ihimaera reflects on what makes him most proud to be a New Zealander.
Changing fiction
18 April 2009 – Auckland-based author Witi Ihimaera, 65, is in the process of reworking earlier fiction saying that “as the author grows, so should their stories.” “Writers should be able to transform their…
On the Mark
The Guardian hails the rise and rise of Mark Baldwin, Fijian-born NZ-raised artistic director of London’s renowned Rambert Dance Company. After just three years in the job, Baldwin has significantly increased the Company’s…
Words as music
Whale Rider‘s US paperback release garnered further praise for author Witi Ihimaera. “Some writers create such beautiful prose that it might be poetry or music. Witi Ihimaera … is one such writer.”
Lord Gazza
Gisborne builder Gary Lewis became the first Maori member of the British Royal Family with his marriage to Lady Davina Windsor at Kensington Palace. Lewis is the son of a former champion sheep-shearer and nephew to writer…
Living Legend
Guardian film writer Diana Dobson visits Whangara, home of the Ngati Konohi people and inspiration behind Witi Ihimaera’s Whale Rider. Rather than touring the location made famous by Niki Caro’s film adaptation, Dobson focuses on the local…
From sea to sky
Witi Ihimaera – “debonair 59-year-old, multi-award winning author, playwright, librettist, anthologist, university lecturer, former foreign diplomat and Maori activist” – interviewed in the Age about his latest novel, Sky Dancer. Following on the successful formula…
NYNZ – Ihimaera on
Whale Rider author and ex-diplomat to the US Witi Ihimaera interviewed in New York – the city where he penned the story behind the award-winning film. “One morning I woke up to the sound…
People together: NZ re-imagined
CBC critic, Eleanor Watchel, travelled through NZ to interview some of NZ’s literary animals in their natural habitats. The Writers & Company radio special celebrated a literary landscape that included authors Patricia Grace, Bill…
Epilogue Written to a Life of Words
NZ lost one of its edgiest inhabitants with the death of Janet Frame from acute myeloid leukemia on January 29. Frame, the author of 11 novels, 5 collections of short stories, a poetry collection,…
Whale of a tale
A combination of German and New Zealand investors will finance Whale Rider, the film adaptation of…
