Puripaha Te Pane Kaewa

A te reo Maori translation of Witi Ihimaera’s award-winning novel about two rival Maori families on the East Coast, Bulibasha.

Witi Ihimaera DCNZM, QSM, was born in Gisborne and is of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Rongowhakaata and Ngati Porou descent with connections to Tuhoe, Te Whanau-a-Apanui, Ngati Kahungunu and Ngai Tamanuhiri. Diplomat, professor and one of Aotearoa’s most distinguished living writers, his many books include Pounamu, Pounamu (1972), The Matriarch (1985) and The Whale Rider (1987), made into a hugely successful film in 2002 and also translated into Maori by Timoti Karetu. Ruth Smith hails from the East Coast but was nurtured by her grandfather’s tribe of Ngati Kohuru, Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki. She holds a bachelor’s degree in te reo Maori with first class honours from EIT. She is a graduate of Te Panekiretanga o te Reo Maori and is an experienced translator with a Te Toi Reo Maori licence. She has worked as a lecturer at Toihoukura: School of Maori Visual Arts, Te Wananga o Aotearoa and Awanuiarangi. She has also worked as a broadcaster, presenter and commentator for Maori Television and Maori radio.