Robert Sullivan (Ngapuhi) and Reina Whaitiri (Kai Tahu) have edited
three previous award-winning anthologies with Albert Wendt: Whetu
Moana: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English (winner of the
Montana New Zealand Book Award), Mauri Ola: Contemporary Polynesian
Poems in English II (finalist in the New Zealand Post Book Awards),
both published by Auckland University Press and the University of
Hawaii Press, and Homeland: New Writing from America, the Pacific,
and Asia (University of Hawaii Press).
Reina Whaitiri (Kaitahu) was born in 1943 to a Pakeha mother and
Maori father. Before retiring from teaching in 2008, she taught
English literature at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and,
before that, at the University of Auckland, where she also
co-ordinated the University of Auckland Tertiary Education
Foundation Programme that encouraged and prepared students for
return to tertiary study. She is an editor and researcher of Maori
and Pacific literature. Her major research interest is Maori women
writers and she has published articles on being Maori and on Maori
women's poetry and has co-edited two volumes of poetry by Maori and
Pacific Island writers, Whetu Moana and Mauri Ola. She lives in
Auckland with partner Albert Wendt.
"Maori artist Selwyn Muru's description of Hone Tuwhare's poetry in English, 'whakaaro Maori, kupu Pakeha' suggests that even though the words may be English, it's the thought that makes them Maori. 'English is our language too, ' he adds. Maori experiences and thoughts are given poetic voice and form in numerous ways - through words and gesture, music and dance, customary and contemporary materials and technologies. The best Maori poetry engages our senses, moves, and challenges us to think creatively. In this process we may learn more about ourselves and the world around us." --Moana Nepia
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