Books by Witi Ihimaera

From master storyteller Witi Ihimaera, a spellbinding and provocative retelling of traditional Maori myths for the twenty-first century. In this milestone volume, Ihimaera traces the history of the Maori people through their creation myths. He follows Tawhaki up the vines into th...e firmament, Hine-titama down into the land of the dead, Maui to the ends of the earth, and the giants and turehu who sailed across the ocean to our shores . . . From Hawaiki to Aotearoa, the ancient navigators brought their myths, while looking to the stars - bright with gods, ancestors and stories - to guide the way. 'Step through the gateway now to stories that are as relevant today as they ever were.'
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From the author of The Whale Rider, an intriguing novella about the nature of identity, together with its screenplay and many extras. A medicine woman a giver of life is asked to hide a secret that may protect a position in society, but could have fatal consequences. She is the h...ealer and midwife of her rural tribe, but new laws are in force prohibiting unlicensed healers. When she is approached by the servant of a wealthy woman, who seeks her assistance, three very different women become players in a head-on clash of beliefs, deception and ultimate salvation. Newly rewritten, this novella, along with its screenplay and notes by the author, producer and director, as well as stills from the accompanying film, offers a rich and intriguing package.
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In The Thrill of Falling, Witi Ihimaera continues his exploration of the novella and the long story begun in his last collection, Ask The Posts of the House (2007) with a new set of intriguing narratives: urban fiction in 'Maggie Dawn'; contemporary comedy in 'We'll Always Have P...aris'; the science fiction novella in 'Purity of Ice'; the new genre of conservation fiction in 'Orbis Terrarium'; the different ways of telling history in the title story; and an adaptation into novella, 'One More Night', of Albert Belz's play, Whero's New Net, which itself was adapted from stories in Ihimaera's second short story collection, The New Net Goes Fishing (1976). The ideas continue to affirm Ihimaera's place in New Zealand literature as one of our finest storytellers.
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This anniversary edition of Witi Ihimaera's Pounamu, Pounamu celebrates the 40th year in print of one of New Zealand's most seminal works of fiction. When Pounamu, Pounamu was published in 1972, it was a landmark occasion for New Zealand literature in many ways. It was the first ...work of fiction published by a Maori writer, it was the first collection of short stories that looked at contemporary Maori life and it launched the career of on of New Zealand's best-known authors. The Pounamu, Pounamu 40th Anniversary Edition is a beautiful hardback collector's volume. It features a foreword by Dame Fiona Kidman and a commentary by Witi Ihimaera on each of the stories. In these author's notes Witi looks back to events from his own childhood that inspired Pounamu, Pounamu and the experience of writing and launching the book as a young man in the early '70s.
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The matriarch is a woman of intelligence, wit, beauty and ruthlessness, and has become a mythical figure through her fight to repossess the land and sustain her people against the ravages wrought by the Pakeha. Priestess of the Ringatu faith, she has been virtually a law unto her...self. In his search for the truth behind the legends surrounding the matriarch, his grandmother, Tama Mahana delves deeper and deeper into Maori history and lore to understand the mysterious sources of her power and ambition. Witi Ihimaera's prose is at turns lyrical and spare, sensuous and savage. Weaving fact with fiction, this remarkable odyssey into New Zealand history is a novel of stunning imaginative power.
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