View source for Witi Ihimaera

{{Short description|New Zealand writer (born 1944)}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date= February 2020}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]]. --> 
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|DCNZM|QSM|size=100%}}
| image         = Witi Ihimaera (cropped).jpg
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| alt           =
| caption       = Ihimaera in November 2015
| pseudonym     = 
| birth_name    = Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler
| birth_date    = {{Birth date and age|1944|02|07|df=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[Gisborne, New Zealand|Gisborne]], New Zealand
| death_date    = <!-- {{Death date and age|Year|Month|Day}} -->
| death_place   = 
| resting_place = 
| occupation    = {{hlist|Writer|academic}}
| language      = {{hlist|English|[[Māori language|Māori]]}}
| education     = [[Victoria University of Wellington]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| spouse        = 
| children      = 2 
| awards        = 
| signature     = 
| signature_alt = 
| website       = 
}}

'''Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|DCNZM|QSM}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɪ|t|i|_|ɪ|h|i|ˈ|m|aɪ|r|ə}}; born 7 February 1944) is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of [[Waituhi]], he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that [[Māori people|Māori]] people were ignored or mischaracterised in literature. He was the first Māori writer to publish a collection of short stories, with ''Pounamu, Pounamu'' (1972), and the first to publish a novel, with ''Tangi'' (1973). After his early works, he took a ten-year break from writing, during which he focused on editing an anthology of Māori writing in English.

From the late 1980s onwards, Ihimaera wrote prolifically. In his novels, plays, short stories and opera [[libretto]]s, he examines contemporary Māori culture, legends and history, and the impacts of colonisation in New Zealand. He has said that "Māori culture is the [[taonga]], the treasure vault from which I source my inspiration".<ref name="Sydney">{{cite journal |last1=Gnanalingam |first1=Brannavan |title=By Way of Circularities: an interview with Witi Ihimaera |journal=Sydney Review of Books |date=4 November 2019 |url=https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/interview/interview-witi-ihimaera/ |access-date=18 April 2021 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418202456/https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/interview/interview-witi-ihimaera/ |url-status=live }}</ref> His 1987 novel ''[[The Whale Rider]]'' is his best-known work, read widely by children and adults both in New Zealand and overseas. It was adapted into the critically acclaimed 2002 film ''[[Whale Rider]]'' directed by [[Niki Caro]]. His semi-autobiographical novel ''Nights in the Gardens of Spain'' (1996) was about a married man coming to terms with his homosexuality. In later works he has dealt with historical events such as the campaign of non-violent resistance at [[Parihaka]] in the late nineteenth century.

Ihimaera is an influential figure in New Zealand literature, and over his long career has won numerous awards and fellowships, including multiple awards for both fiction and non-fiction at the [[New Zealand Book Awards]] spanning the period 1973 to 2016, the [[Robert Burns Fellowship]] (1975), the [[Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship]] (1993), and a [[Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement]] (2017). Until 2010 he was the Professor of English and Distinguished Creative Fellow in Māori Literature at the [[University of Auckland]]. He has since published two volumes of his memoirs: ''Māori Boy: A Memoir of Childhood'' (2014) and ''Native Son: The Writer's Memoir'' (2019).

==Early life and education==
Ihimaera was born in [[Gisborne, New Zealand|Gisborne]], a city in the east of New Zealand's [[North Island]] and is of Māori descent. His [[iwi]] (tribe) is [[Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki]]. He has affiliations to [[Ngāi Tūhoe]], [[Te Whānau-ā-Apanui]], [[Ngāti Kahungunu]], [[Ngāi Tāmanuhiri]], [[Rongowhakaata]], [[Ngāti Porou]], and [[Whakatōhea]].<ref name="OCNZL">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Millar |first1=Paul |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Wattie |editor2-first=Nelson |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature |title=Ihimaera, Witi |url=https://ojs.victoria.ac.nz/kotare/article/download/616/428 |access-date=3 April 2021 |date=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-1917-3519-6 |oclc=865265749 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001 }}</ref><ref name="Brit">{{Britannica|282478|Witi Ihimaera}}.</ref><ref name="Dekker">{{cite news |last1=Dekker |first1=Diana |title=Witi Ihimaera's charmed life |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/8763358/Witi-Ihimaeras-charmed-life |access-date=6 April 2021 |work=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |date=10 June 2013 |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421195423/http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/8763358/Witi-Ihimaeras-charmed-life |url-status=live }}</ref> He also has Scottish ancestry through both parents.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keown |first1=Michelle |title=Isles of Voices: Scotland in the Indigenous Pacific Literary Imaginary |journal=International Journal of Scottish Literature |date=Autumn 2013 |issue=9 |pages=51–67 |url=https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/16500325/Isles_of_Voices_Scotland_in_the_Indigenous_Pacific_Literary_Imaginary.pdf |access-date=12 April 2021 |archive-date=12 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412092736/https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/16500325/Isles_of_Voices_Scotland_in_the_Indigenous_Pacific_Literary_Imaginary.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> His family [[marae]] is Te Rongopai Marae in [[Waituhi]], and he grew up in Waituhi—many of his stories are set in a fictional recreation of the town.<ref name="OCNZL"/> He began writing at a young age, and in later life recounted writing stories on the wall of his childhood bedroom.<ref name="OCNZL"/>

He attended [[Te Karaka]] District High School for three years and the [[Church College of New Zealand]] in [[Temple View]], [[Hamilton, New Zealand|Hamilton]], for one year, after which he completed his final year of schooling at [[Gisborne Boys' High School]].<ref name="OCNZL"/> He has said that he became interested in becoming a writer when he was fifteen and realised that Māori did not feature in the books he read. His schoolteacher then instructed his class to read the short story "The Whare" by [[Pākehā]] writer [[Douglas Stewart (poet)|Douglas Stewart]], about a young man who encounters a Māori settlement. He found the story "so poisonous" that he threw the book out of the window and was [[Caning|caned]] for doing so.<ref name="Sydney"/> Writing about the incident in his 2014 memoir ''Māori Boy'', he said:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ihimaera |first1=Witi |title=Māori Boy: A Memoir of Childhood |date=2014 |publisher=Random House New Zealand |isbn=9781869797270 |chapter=Chapter 43: Man and Wife}}</ref>

{{blockquote|My ambition to be a writer was voiced that day. I said to myself that I was going to write a book about Māori people, not just because it had to be done but because I needed to unpoison the stories already written about Māori; and it would be taught in every school in New Zealand, whether they wanted it or not.}}

After high school, Ihimaera attended the [[University of Auckland]] for three years, from 1963 to 1966, but did not complete his degree, and returned to Gisborne where he became a cadet journalist for the ''[[Gisborne Herald]]''. He subsequently became a postman, moved to Wellington and started studying part-time at [[Victoria University of Wellington]], where he completed his Bachelor of Arts in 1971.<ref name="OCNZL"/> He met librarian and student Jane Cleghorn at university, and they married in 1970.<ref name="Dekker"/>

==Career==
===Early career: 1960s and 1970s===
Ihimaera began writing seriously in 1969, around the age of 25, and had his first short story "The Liar" accepted for publication by the ''[[New Zealand Listener]]'' magazine in May 1970.<ref name="OCNZL"/> Six of his stories were read by [[George Henare]] on [[Radio New Zealand]] in 1969.<ref name="Rise">{{cite news |title=Witi Ihimaera on the massive rise to come of Māori culture in 2024 |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/culture-101/audio/2018923538/witi-ihimaera-on-the-massive-rise-to-come-of-maori-culture-in-2024 |access-date=26 May 2024 |work=[[Radio New Zealand]] |date=26 January 2024 |language=en-nz}}</ref> Ihimaera's first book, ''Pounamu Pounamu'' (1972), was a collection of short stories, which was awarded third prize at the [[Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards]] in 1973.<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Winners: 1973 |url=https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=1973 |website=New Zealand Book Awards Trust |access-date=4 April 2021 |archive-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301030820/https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=1973 |url-status=live }}</ref> Ihimaera has said it was rejected by three publishers before being accepted by the fourth.<ref name="Dickson">{{cite news |last1=Dickson |first1=E. Jane |title=In the deep end |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/in-the-deep-end-pxmv0lsqf79 |access-date=21 April 2021 |work=The Times |date=19 March 2005 |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421194701/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/in-the-deep-end-pxmv0lsqf79 |url-status=live }}</ref> His first two novels were published in quick succession: ''Tangi'' (1973), which won first prize at the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards in 1974,<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Winners: 1974 |url=https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=1974 |website=New Zealand Book Awards Trust |access-date=3 April 2021 |archive-date=29 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129201321/https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=1974 |url-status=live }}</ref> and ''Whanau'' (1974), which told the story of a day in the life of a Māori village.<ref name="OCNZL"/><ref name="Brit"/> He was the first Māori writer to publish a collection of short stories and the first to publish a novel.<ref name="Holman">{{cite web |last1=Holman |first1=Jeffrey Paparoa |title=Page 2. Development of Māori fiction. Story: Māori fiction—ngā tuhinga paki |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/maori-fiction-nga-tuhinga-paki/page-2 |website=Te Ara—The Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=3 April 2021 |archive-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126144237/https://teara.govt.nz/en/maori-fiction-nga-tuhinga-paki/page-2 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NZ_Herald_3570954">{{Cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3570954|title=Queen's Birthday Honours 2004: Witi Ihimaera|last=Kiriona|first=Renee|date=7 June 2008|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|access-date=5 July 2016|archive-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616053834/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3570954|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Norman Kirk]], then the prime minister of New Zealand, read ''Pounamu Pounamu'' and arranged for Ihimaera to be employed as a writer at the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (New Zealand)|New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] in 1973.<ref name="OCNZL"/> During his career he wrote a non-fiction booklet called ''Māori'' (1975), later adapted into a short film of the same name in 1981, although he felt the final film was a propaganda exercise that bore little resemblance to his written work.<ref name="OCNZL"/><ref name="Brit"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Māori—Short Film (Full Length)—1981 |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/maori-1981 |website=NZ On Screen Iwi Whitiāhua |access-date=4 April 2021 |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421195423/https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/maori-1981 |url-status=live }}</ref> He subsequently worked as a diplomat with posts in [[Canberra]], [[New York City]], and [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name="OCNZL"/> In 1975 he was the recipient of the [[Robert Burns Fellowship]] at the [[University of Otago]], and in 1982 he received a [[Victoria University of Wellington]] writing fellowship.<ref name="OCNZL"/><ref name="NZ_Herald_3570954"/>

Beginning in 1975, Ihimaera stopped his own creative writing for a ten-year period, due to his belief that it was "tragically out of date" and a wish not to have it seen as the "definitive portrayal of the world of the Maori".<ref name="OCNZL"/> He instead began working on the anthology ''Into the World of Light'' (1982), together with co-editor [[Don Long (writer)|Don Long]]<!-- Q108160830 -->. The anthology collected the work of 39 Māori writers. In Ihimaera and Long's introduction, they said that Māori oral tradition formed the context for Māori literature, and observed that the apparent lack of Māori writing in the mid-20th century was due to publishers' reluctance to publish books by Māori writers because of a belief that Māori "don't read books". The ''Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature'' described the collected works as being "of a uniformly high standard", and Graham Wiremu writing in the ''New Zealand Listener'' called the anthology "prodigious and powerful".<ref name="OCNZL Into">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Millar |first1=Paul |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Wattie |editor2-first=Nelson |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature |title=Into the World of Light: An Anthology of Maori Writing |url=https://ojs.victoria.ac.nz/kotare/article/download/616/428 |access-date=14 April 2021 |date=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-1917-3519-6 |oclc=865265749 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001 }}</ref>

===Return to writing: 1980s and 1990s===
When Ihimaera began writing again, he wrote ''The Matriarch'' (1986) which examined the impacts of European colonisation on Māori,<ref name="Brit"/> and which again received first prize at the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards.<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Winners: 1986 |url=https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=1986 |website=New Zealand Book Awards Trust |access-date=3 April 2021 |archive-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301042903/https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=1986 |url-status=live }}</ref> Not long after publication, it came to light that Ihimaera had used passages from the entry on Māori land in ''[[An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand]]'' (1966), written by Keith Sorrenson, without acknowledgement. Ihimaera apologised to Sorrenson at the time. [[Mark Williams (writer)|Mark Williams]] later noted that the consequences for Ihimaera were minor, and he became a professor in the year of the book's publication.<ref name="Rivers">{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Mark |title=Rivers, repetition and reproaches |journal=New Zealand Review of Books |date=Autumn 2010 |issue=89 |url=https://nzbooks.org.nz/2010/comment/rivers-repetition-and-reproaches/ |access-date=24 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="Du Fresne">{{cite news |last1=Du Fresne |first1=Karl |title=Ihimaera's deceit a breach of faith |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/opinion/columnists/karl-du-fresne/3096855/Ihimaeras-deceit-a-breach-of-faith |access-date=24 November 2021 |work=Nelson Mail |date=25 November 2009}}</ref> He also wrote a [[libretto]] for an opera by [[Ross Harris (composer)|Ross Harris]]<!-- Q18342045 -->, based on his second novel ''Whanau'', and ''Dear Miss Mansfield'' (1989), a rewriting of [[Katherine Mansfield]]'s short stories from a Māori perspective, in response to celebrations of 100 years since her birth. The collection was well-received overseas but criticised by New Zealand reviewers for a perceived lack of respect for Mansfield.<ref name="OCNZL"/><ref name="Read NZ">{{cite web |title=Ihimaera, Witi |url=https://www.read-nz.org/writer/ihimaera-witi/ |website=Read NZ Te Pou Muramura |access-date=5 April 2021 |archive-date=30 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330005831/https://www.read-nz.org/writer/ihimaera-witi/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a three-week period Ihimaera wrote his best-known work ''[[The Whale Rider (novel)|The Whale Rider]]''<!-- Q107719019 --> (1987), the story of a young girl becoming a leader of her people.<ref name="OCNZL"/><ref name="Read NZ"/> It has been reprinted many times, read by both adults and children and was adapted into the critically acclaimed [[Whale Rider|film of the same name]] in 2002.<ref name="OCNZL" /><ref name="Brit"/><ref name="Read NZ" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=19 May 2003|title=Children's Book Review: The Whale Rider|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-15-205017-7|access-date=29 October 2021|website=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref>  It won the Nielsen BookData New Zealand Booksellers' Choice Award in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nielsen BookData New Zealand Booksellers' Choice Award |url=https://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Literature/Prizes/NielsenBookData/ |website=[[Christchurch City Libraries]] |access-date=5 April 2021 |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421195423/https://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Literature/Prizes/NielsenBookData/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Brit"/> It was published and read internationally; ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'' described it as a "luminous joining of myth and contemporary culture".<ref>{{cite news |title=The Whale Rider |work=Kirkus Reviews |date=1 May 2003 |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/witi-ihimaera/the-whale-rider/ |access-date=19 April 2021 |archive-date=19 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419215139/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/witi-ihimaera/the-whale-rider/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1989, he left his job as a diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the following year he became a lecturer in the English department at the [[University of Auckland]].<ref name="OCNZL"/><ref name="wotherspoon" /> He later became Professor of English and Distinguished Creative Fellow in Māori Literature, until 2010.<ref name="Arts Profile">{{cite web |title=Witi Ihimaera's Biography |url=https://www.thearts.co.nz/artists/witi-ihimaera |website=The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi |access-date=3 April 2021 |archive-date=10 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410123055/https://www.thearts.co.nz/artists/witi-ihimaera |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Brit"/> He was awarded a Scholarship in Letters in 1991. In 1993 he received the [[Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship]] which allowed him to work in [[Menton, France]], for a period, where he wrote his next two novels: ''Bulibasha: King of the Gypsies'' (1994) and ''Nights in the Gardens of Spain'' (1996).<ref name="OCNZL"/><ref name="McLean">{{cite news |last1=McLean |first1=Gavin |title=Witi Ihimaera writes his coming out novel |work=The Dominion Post |date=10 February 1995 |page=7}}</ref> ''Bulibasha: King of the Gypsies'' was awarded the prize for Fiction at the [[Montana New Zealand Book Awards]] in 1995.<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Winners: 1995 |url=https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=1995 |website=New Zealand Book Awards Trust |access-date=3 April 2021 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128114131/https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=1995 |url-status=live }}</ref> It was described in ''[[The Dominion Post (Wellington)|The Dominion Post]]'' as "a rollicking good yarn about Maori rural life in the 1950s",<ref name="McLean"/> and Ihimaera himself has said he was intending to write a Māori [[Western (genre)|Western]].<ref name="OCNZL"/> The novel was adapted into the 2016 film [[Mahana (film)|''Mahana'']] by [[Lee Tamahori]] (released as ''The Patriarch'' outside of New Zealand).<ref name="Brit"/>

In 1996, he published ''Nights in the Gardens of Spain'', a semi-autobiographical novel about a man [[coming out]]. Like Ihimaera, the main character was married with two daughters, but unlike Ihimaera the main character was [[Pākehā]] (European). Ihimaera had accepted his sexuality in 1984 and began the work, but out of sensitivity to his daughters, did not finish or publish it then.<ref name="Dekker"/><ref name="wotherspoon">{{Cite book|title=Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History |first1=Robert |last1=Aldrich |first2=Garry |last2=Wotherspoon |year=2002 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-29161-3 |pages=204–5 }}</ref> The novel was described by scholar [[Roger Robinson (scholar)|Roger Robinson]]<!-- Q108177561 --> as featuring "conflict, growth and reconciliation, with subplots heroic, political and tragic". Robinson said it was "no small achievement to take this material off the grubby walls of public toilets, free it from sleaze, write it with vivid passion and through it affirm and celebrate a way of life of which most of us know almost nothing".<ref name="Robinson">{{cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=Roger |title=Pure Broadway |journal=New Zealand Review of Books |date=Autumn 1995 |issue=17 |url=https://nzbooks.org.nz/1995/literature/pure-broadway-roger-robinson/ |access-date=4 April 2021 |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421195423/https://nzbooks.org.nz/1995/literature/pure-broadway-roger-robinson/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In a review for ''The Dominion Post'', Gavin McLean described it as Ihimaera's best book to date, and noted that much of the book's impact came from the intensity of the main character's relationship with his parents and his "desperate need to do better by his children"; "Unlike characters in many similar novels, coming out does not mean discarding all one's past."<ref name="McLean"/> In 2010, it was adapted into the film [[Kawa (film)|''Kawa'']] by director [[Katie Wolfe]]. The central character was changed from Pākehā to Māori businessman Kawa, played by [[Calvin Tuteao]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Nights in the Gardens of Spain |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/nights-in-the-gardens-of-spain-2010 |website=NZ On Screen Iwi Whitiāhua |access-date=4 April 2021 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414072503/https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/nights-in-the-gardens-of-spain-2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> In an article in ''[[The Sunday Star Times]]'', Ihimaera was quoted as saying the change "was quite a shock to me because I had always tried to hide, to say 'this is a book that could be about "everyman", this is not a specific story'. So [the film] is now actually nearer to the truth than I would like to admit."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Holmes |first1=Stephanie |title=Nights in the Gardens of Spain |work=The Sunday Star-Times |date=23 January 2011 |page=E26}}</ref> After the publication of the novel, Ihimaera and his wife remained married, but no longer lived together.<ref name="Dekker"/>

A decade after his anthology ''Into the World of Light'' (1982), Ihimaera edited the five-volume bilingual anthology of Māori writing, ''Te Ao Marama'' ("the world of light"), published between 1992 and 1996.<ref name="Brit"/> It represented the most comprehensive collection of writing by Māori writers that had been published at that time.<ref name="OCNZL Te Ao">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Wattie |first1=Nelson |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Wattie |editor2-first=Nelson |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature |title=Into the World of Light: An Anthology of Maori Writing |url=https://ojs.victoria.ac.nz/kotare/article/download/616/428 |access-date=14 April 2021 |date=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-1917-3519-6 |oclc=865265749 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001 }}</ref> In 1997 he published ''The Dream Swimmer'', a sequel to his 1986 novel ''The Matriarch''.<ref name="Read NZ"/> That same year, ''Mataora, The Living Face: Contemporary Māori Artists'', which he co-edited with [[Sandy Adsett]] and [[Cliff Whiting]], received the Montana Award for Illustrative Arts at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards.<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Winners: 1997 |url=https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=1997 |website=New Zealand Book Awards Trust |access-date=5 April 2021 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128114125/https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=1997 |url-status=live }}</ref> His poem "O numi tutelar" was recited at the dawn opening of the British Museum's long-awaited 'Maori' Exhibition in 1998.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wood|first1=Briar|last2=Henare|first2=Amiria J. M.|last3=Lander|first3=Maureen|last4=Kanawa|first4=Kahu Te|date=2003|title=Visiting the House of Gifts: The 1998 'Maori' Exhibition at the British Museum|journal=Journal of New Zealand Literature|issue=21|pages=83–101|issn=0112-1227|jstor=20112357}}</ref>

===Later career: 2000 onwards===
[[File:Witi Ihimaera.jpg|thumb|left|Ihimaera in [[Frankfurt]] in October 2012.]]
In the early 2000s Ihimaera published ''Woman Far Walking'' (2000), a play from the perspective of an elder Māori woman who has witnessed key historic events and who Ihimaera describes as the personification of the [[Treaty of Waitangi]].<ref name="Read NZ"/><ref name="Sydney"/> He also published ''The Uncle's Story'' (2000), a love story about two generations of gay Māori men, children's picture book ''The Little Kowhai Tree'' (2002) (illustrated by [[Henry Campbell (illustrator)|Henry Campbell]]), and the novel ''Sky Dancer'' (2003), featuring Māori myths with contemporary characters.<ref name="Brit"/><ref name="Read NZ"/> ''Sky Dancer'' was shortlisted for Best Book in the South Pacific & South East Asian Region of the 2004 [[Commonwealth Writers' Prize]].<ref name="Read NZ"/> In 2004, he published ''Whanau II'', which featured the characters of his second novel ''Whanau'' (1974), and which was subsequently published in London under the title ''Band of Angels'' (2005). His novella "The Halcyon Summer" was published in ''Nine New Zealand Novellas'' (2005), edited by [[Peter Simpson (writer)|Peter Simpson]].<ref name="Read NZ"/> ''The Rope of Man'' was published in 2005, which featured both a revised version of his first novel ''Tangi'' (1973) and a new sequel ''The Return''. His short story collection ''Ask at the Posts of the House'' (2007) was longlisted for the [[Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award]], and one of the novellas included in that collection was adapted into the 2013 film ''[[White Lies (2013 New Zealand film)|White Lies]]''.<ref name="Brit"/><ref name="Read NZ"/> In 2003, and again in 2009, [[Penguin New Zealand]] published ''His Best Stories'', a collection of twenty-four stories selected by Ihimaera.<ref name="Read NZ"/>

In 2009, Ihimaera published ''The Trowenna Sea'', a novel about the early history of [[Tasmania]]. At the time, he planned to write a trilogy.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Megan |last1=Nicol Reed |title='I write for the New Zealand I wish it to be' |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/features/2972881/I-write-for-the-New-Zealand-I-wish-it-to-be |access-date=13 April 2021 |work=The Sunday Star-Times |date=18 October 2009 |archive-date=12 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412092733/https://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/features/2972881/I-write-for-the-New-Zealand-I-wish-it-to-be |url-status=live }}</ref> Shortly after publication, book reviewer [[Jolisa Gracewood]] detected short passages from other writers, especially from historical sources, used without acknowledgement.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gracewood |first=Jolisa |title=Keeping it real |url=http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3627/features/14634/keeping_it_real.html |journal=[[New Zealand Listener|The Listener]] |year=2009 |volume=221 |access-date=17 November 2010 |issue=3627 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523032623/http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3627/features/14634/keeping_it_real.html |archive-date=23 May 2010 }}</ref><ref name="Black">{{cite journal|last=Black |first=Joanne |title=Other people's words |url=http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3629/features/14482/other_peoples_words.html |journal=[[New Zealand Listener|The Listener]] |year=2009 |volume=221 |access-date=17 November 2010 |issue=3629 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523024532/http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3629/features/14482/other_peoples_words.html |archive-date=23 May 2010 }}</ref> Ihimaera apologised for not acknowledging the passages, said the omission was inadvertent and negligent, and pointed to many pages of other sources that he had acknowledged.<ref name="NZ_Herald_10610487">{{Cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10610487|title=Plagiarists 'like drug cheats'|date=20 November 2009|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|access-date=2 December 2009|first=Jared|last=Savage|archive-date=18 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318000156/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10610487|url-status=live}}</ref> The University of Auckland investigated the incident and ruled that Ihimaera's actions did not constitute misconduct in research, as the actions did not appear to be deliberate and Ihimaera had apologised.<ref>{{cite news|title=Witi Ihimaera admits plagiarism|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10607651|access-date=16 November 2010|newspaper=[[New Zealand Herald]] |date=6 November 2009|archive-date=12 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111112050925/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10607651|url-status=live}}</ref> Gracewood subsequently found additional passages that had been copied without explanation, and the book's publisher [[Penguin Books]] removed the book from public sale. Ihimaera purchased the remaining stock himself.<ref name="Black"/> A revised edition, with fuller acknowledgements, originally planned for 2010, was subsequently cancelled, with no reasons given for the decision.<ref>{{cite news|last=Harper|first=Paul|title=Controversial novel not republished|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10675108&ref=rss|access-date=16 November 2010|newspaper=[[New Zealand Herald]] |date=21 September 2010|archive-date=23 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023203157/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10675108&ref=rss|url-status=live}}</ref> Some literary commentators, such as [[Vincent O'Sullivan (New Zealand writer)|Vincent O'Sullivan]], [[C.K. Stead]] and [[Mark Williams (writer)|Mark Williams]], criticised the university's response to the incident. Keith Sorrenson said that the events suggested Ihimaera had "learnt nothing" from his earlier plagiarism of Sorrenson's work in ''The Matriarch'' (1986).<ref name="Rivers"/><ref name="Du Fresne"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Reviewer claims more plagiarism in Ihimaera novel |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/reviewer-claims-more-plagiarism-in-ihimaera-novel/4I62ATPIUE5GXEVO3757AR3JYM/ |access-date=24 November 2021 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |date=20 November 2009}}</ref>

His twelfth novel, ''The Parihaka Woman'' (2011), featured elements of the opera ''[[Fidelio]]'' and the history of [[Parihaka]] and the campaign of non-violent resistance.<ref name="Brit"/> [[Michael O'Leary (writer)|Michael O'Leary]], writing in the online edition of ''[[Landfall (journal)|Landfall]]'', called it an "intriguing and significant, if somewhat flawed, work"; he praised the novel's efforts to tackle the horrific events at Parihaka in the late nineteenth century, and the demonstration of the rich cultural life of Māori in that period, but also noted some issues in the detail of Ihimaera's use of Māori lore and in historical accuracies.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=O'Leary |first1=Michael |title=Holding up a Mirror to Empire |journal=Landfall Review Online |date=1 February 2012 |url=https://landfallreview.com/holding-up-a-mirror-to-empire/ |access-date=18 April 2021 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418202448/https://landfallreview.com/holding-up-a-mirror-to-empire/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Reviewers for the ''[[Sunday Star-Times]]'', ''[[Otago Daily Times]]'' and ''[[The New Zealand Herald]]'' were more negative, and all noted Ihimaera's use of an amateur historian as narrator; they noted that this device allowed him to add numerous citations and references, and avoid any further accusations of plagiarism, but detracted from the quality of the writing.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Reid |first1=Nicholas |title=Easy history lesson from Ihimaera |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/features/5910402/Easy-history-lesson-from-Ihimaera |access-date=18 April 2021 |work=[[Sunday Star-Times]] |date=18 April 2021 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418202446/https://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/features/5910402/Easy-history-lesson-from-Ihimaera |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Lawrence |title=Ihimaera's latest not what it first seems |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/books/ihimaeras-latest-not-what-it-first-seems |access-date=18 April 2021 |work=[[Otago Daily Times]] |date=5 November 2011 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418202456/https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/books/ihimaeras-latest-not-what-it-first-seems |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Larsen |first1=Michael |title=Book Review: The Parihaka Woman |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/book-review-the-parihaka-woman/XSFKJ7564JCAI5U6YPW7CDQNGE/ |access-date=18 April 2021 |work=[[New Zealand Herald]] |date=31 October 2011 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418202446/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/book-review-the-parihaka-woman/XSFKJ7564JCAI5U6YPW7CDQNGE/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was followed by the short-story collection ''The Thrill of Falling'' (2012), in which Ihimaera explored a range of genres including contemporary comedy and science fiction.<ref name="Read NZ"/>

''Māori Boy: A Memoir of Childhood'' (2014) was the first instalment of Ihimaera's memoirs and recorded experiences from his childhood up till his teenage years. It received the award for General Non-Fiction at the 2016 [[Ockham New Zealand Book Awards]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Winners: 2016 |url=https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=2016 |website=New Zealand Book Awards Trust |access-date=3 April 2021 |archive-date=7 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507170454/http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> The second instalment, ''Native Son: A Writer's Memoir'' was published in 2019, and covers his early adult years in the 1960s and 1970s and how he became a published writer. After finishing ''Native Son'', he decided to take a four-year break from writing, but ended up instead writing ''Navigating the Stars: Māori Creation Myths'' (2020), a modern re-telling of traditional Māori legends.<ref name="Hereaka">{{cite news |last1=Hereaka |first1=Whiti |title=Stars in the Soundshell: Witi Ihimaera's creation myths come to life in Wellington |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/18-02-2021/stars-in-the-soundshell-witi-ihimaeras-creation-myths-come-to-life-in-wellington/ |access-date=21 April 2021 |work=[[The Spinoff]] |date=18 February 2021 |archive-date=11 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311030804/https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/18-02-2021/stars-in-the-soundshell-witi-ihimaeras-creation-myths-come-to-life-in-wellington/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Navigating the Stars: Maori Creation Myths |url=https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/navigating-the-stars-9780143774990 |website=Penguin Books New Zealand |access-date=21 April 2021 |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421193201/https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/navigating-the-stars-9780143774990 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2019, the play ''Witi's Wāhine'' premiered at [[Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival]]. Written by playwright [[Nancy Brunning]], who died in the same year, the play is a tribute to female characters in Ihimaera's works.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hislop |first1=Emma |title='The whole stage talks': A review of Witi's Wāhine |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/11-05-2023/the-whole-stage-talks-a-review-of-witis-wahine |access-date=26 May 2024 |work=[[The Spinoff]] |date=11 May 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Ihimaera wrote the script for a stage show adaptation of ''Navigating the Stars'', produced by theatre company [[Taki Rua]], which was performed at the Soundshell in the [[Wellington Botanic Garden]] in early 2021.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hereaka |first1=Whiti |title=Stars in the Soundshell: Witi Ihimaera's creation myths come to life in Wellington |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/18-02-2021/stars-in-the-soundshell-witi-ihimaeras-creation-myths-come-to-life-in-wellington/ |access-date=18 August 2021 |work=[[The Spinoff]] |date=18 February 2021 |archive-date=11 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311030804/https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/18-02-2021/stars-in-the-soundshell-witi-ihimaeras-creation-myths-come-to-life-in-wellington/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2022, ''Pounamu Pounamu'' was re-issued by Penguin Random House with a new introduction by Ihimaera. In 2023, he edited an anthology of non-fiction Māori writing, ''Ngā Kupu Wero''.<ref name="Rise"/>

===Legacy===
[[File:Witi Ihimaera memorial plaque in Dunedin.jpg|thumb|Plaque dedicated to Witi Ihimaera in Dunedin, on the [[Dunedin Writers' Walk|Writers' Walk]] on the Octagon]]
Ihimaera has been recognised as "one of the world's leading indigenous writers".<ref>{{cite news |title=NZ writers rewarded for their extraordinary legacy |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/95401523/nz-writers-rewarded-for-their-extraordinary-legacy |access-date=21 April 2021 |work=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |date=3 August 2017 |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421195421/https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/95401523/nz-writers-rewarded-for-their-extraordinary-legacy |url-status=live }}</ref> Literary scholar and Professor Emeritus at the University of Otago [[Alistair Fox]] in ''The Ship of Dreams: Masculinity in Contemporary New Zealand Fiction'' (2008) devotes four of the eleven chapters in the book to the writings of Ihimaera, indicating his importance within the context of New Zealand literature. Fox describes his epic novel ''The Matriarch'' as "one of the major and most telling 'monuments' of New Zealand's cultural history in the late twentieth century as far as the situation of Māori in this postcolonial society is concerned", noting that Ihimaera "has remained at the forefront of Māori arts and letters to an unprecedented degree, with an impressive output across a range of genres".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Ship of Dreams: Masculinity in Contemporary New Zealand Fiction|last=Fox|first=Alistair|publisher=Otago University Press|year=2008|isbn=9781877372544|location=Dunedin, New Zealand|pages=14, 133}}</ref>

As part of the Auckland Arts Festival 2011, musician [[Charlotte Yates]] directed and produced the stage project "Ihimaera", featuring Ihimaera's lyrics about his life and works, and with performances by New Zealand musicians including [[Victoria Girling-Butcher]]<!-- Q84326957 -->, [[Paul Ubana Jones]]<!-- Q98094888 -->, [[Ruia Aperahama]]<!-- Q108161349 --> and [[Horomona Horo]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Arts Festival Review: Ihimaera |work=[[New Zealand Herald]] |date=5 March 2011 |issn=1170-0777}}</ref><ref name="Dart">{{cite news |last1=Dart |first1=William |title=Dude, you've been an inspiration |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/dude-youve-been-an-inspiration/YCMYHJC6NT7B6NZ4QAGVFQ7T2Y/ |access-date=5 April 2021 |work=[[New Zealand Herald]] |date=25 February 2011 |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421195421/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/dude-youve-been-an-inspiration/YCMYHJC6NT7B6NZ4QAGVFQ7T2Y/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Yates had previously created similar projects as tributes to New Zealand poets [[James K. Baxter]] and [[Hone Tuwhare]], and chose Ihimaera for her third project because he was "a writer with a huge body of work that I can give to a number of musicians for them to put their heart and soul to".<ref name="Dart"/>

==Awards and honours==
In the [[1986 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|1986 Queen's Birthday Honours]], Ihimaera was awarded the [[Queen's Service Medal]] for public services.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=14 June 1986 |supp=3 |issue=50553 |page=33}}</ref> In the [[2004 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|2004 Queen's Birthday Honours]], he was appointed a [[Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit]], for services to literature.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2004 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2004 |date=7 June 2004 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=30 May 2020 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806103138/https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2004 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2009, following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government, he declined redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10590716 |title=Helen Clark loses: Ex-Labour MP takes title |date=14 August 2009 |work=[[New Zealand Herald]] |access-date=31 May 2020 |first=Audrey |last=Young |archive-date=25 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225062605/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10590716 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2004, Ihimaera received an [[List of honorary doctors of Victoria University of Wellington|honorary doctorate]] from Victoria University of Wellington. In the same year, he undertook a residency in world literature at [[George Washington University]], funded by Fulbright New Zealand.<ref name="Read NZ"/> In 2009 he was one of five recipients of the [[Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award]], for which he received {{NZ$}}50,000.<ref name="Read NZ"/> In the same year he received the prestigious Māori arts award Te Tohutiketike a Te Waka Toi at the 2009 Creative New Zealand [[Te Waka Toi Awards]]. The award is made to artists who are "exemplary in their chosen field of artistic endeavour".<ref>{{cite web |title=Renowned Writer Takes Top Māori Award |url=https://www.creativenz.govt.nz/news/renowned-writer-takes-top-maori-award |website=Creative New Zealand |access-date=27 October 2021 |date=28 August 2009}}</ref> On receiving the award, Ihimaera said it was a recognition of his [[iwi]]: "Without them, I would have nothing to write about and there would be no Ihimaera. So this award is for all those ancestors who have made us all the people we are. It is also for the generations to come, to show them that even when you aren't looking, destiny has a job for you to do."<ref name="Read NZ"/>

In 2017, Ihimaera was awarded a [[Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement]]. The selection panel described him "as one of New Zealand's most important post-colonial writers, who has consistently proved to be an outstanding storyteller, celebrated as a voice for Māoritanga and a literary leader".<ref name="Read NZ"/> In the same year, he was appointed a ''Chevalier'' of the ''[[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]'' on [[Bastille Day]] by the French government for his "pivotal role in bringing Maori storytelling to the forefront and enabling its international recognition as a taonga from New Zealand".<ref name="Read NZ"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Whale Rider author Witi Ihimaera received French honours alongside war veterans |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/94724036/whale-rider-author-witi-ihimaera-received-french-honours-alongside-war-veterans |access-date=21 April 2021 |work=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |date=14 July 2017 |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421193200/https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/94724036/whale-rider-author-witi-ihimaera-received-french-honours-alongside-war-veterans |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2024, he was elected as a [[Royal Society of Literature]] International Writer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bronasbooks.com/2024/12/10/royal-society-of-literature-international-writers-2024/|title=Royal Society of Literature International Writers 2024|date=10 December 2024|access-date=2 January 2025|website=bronasbooks.com}}</ref>

==Selected works==

===Novels, short-story collections and non-fiction===
{{Div col|colwidth=40em}}
* ''Pounamu Pounamu'' (1972, short-story collection)
* ''Tangi'' (1973)
* ''Whanau'' (1974)
* ''The New Net Goes Fishing'' (1977, short-story collection)
* ''The Matriarch'' (1986)
* ''[[The Whale Rider]]'' (1987)
* ''Dear Miss Mansfield: a tribute to Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp'' (1989, short-story collection)
* ''Bulibasha: King of the Gypsies'' (1994)
* ''Nights in the Gardens of Spain'' (1995)
* ''Te Kaieke Tohorā'' (Māori edition of ''The Whale Rider'') (1995)
* ''Kingfisher Come Home: the complete Maori stories'' (1995, short-story collection)
* ''The Dream Swimmer'' (1997)
* ''The Uncle's Story'' (2000)
* ''Sky Dancer'' (2003)
* ''Ihimaera: His Best Stories'' (2003, short-story collection)
* ''Whanau II: The Anniversary Collection'', or ''Band of Angels'' (2005)
* ''The Rope of Man'', combining ''Tangi'' and its sequel ''The Return'' (2005)
* ''Ask at the Posts of the House'' (2007, short-story collection)
* ''The Trowenna Sea'' (2009)
* ''The Parihaka Woman'' (2011)
* ''The Thrill of Falling'' (2011, short-story collection)
* ''Māori Boy: A Memoir of Childhood'' (2014, memoir)
* ''Sleeps Standing Moetū'' (2017, novella, with [[Hemi Kelly]])
* ''Native Son: A Writer's Memoir'' (2019, memoir)
* ''The Astromancer: The Rising of Matariki'' (2022)
{{Div col end}}

===Anthologies and other edited works===
{{Div col|colwidth=40em}}
* ''Into the World of Light'', edited by Ihimaera and D.S. Long (1982)
* ''Te Ao Maramara Volume 1: Whakahuatanga o te rau (Reflections of Reality)'', selected and edited by Ihimaera, with contributing editors, [[Haare Williams]], [[Irihapeti Ramsden]] and D.S. Long (1992)
* ''Te Ao Maramara Volume 2: He whakaatanga o te ao (The Reality)'' (1992)
* ''Te Ao Maramara Volume 3: Puawaitanga o te korero (The Flowering)'' (1993)
* ''Regaining Aotearoa: Māori writers speak out'', edited by Ihimaera, D.S. Long, Irihapeti Ramsden and Haare Williams (1993)
* ''Te Ao Maramara Volume 4: Te ara o te hau (The Path of the Wind)'' (1994)
* ''Vision Aotearoa = Kaupapa New Zealand'' (1994)
* ''100 Lovers of Taamaki Makaurau'', edited by Ihimaera and [[Albert Wendt]] (1994)
* ''Te Ao Maramara Volume 5: Te Torino (The Spiral)'' (1996)
* ''Mataora = the living face: contemporary art'' (1996)
* ''Growing up Māori'' (1998)
* ''Where's Waari: a history of the Maori through the short story'' (2000)
* ''Te Ata: Māori art from the East Coast, New Zealand'', edited by Ihimaera and [[Ngarino Ellis]], afterword by [[Kāterina Mataira|Katerina Te Heikōkō Mataira]] (2002)
* ''Auckland: the city in literature'' (2003)
* ''Get on the Waka: best recent Māori fiction'' (2007)
* ''Black Marks on the White Page'', edited by Ihimaera and [[Tina Makereti]] (2017)
* ''Ngā Kupu Wero'', edited by Ihimaera and with an introduction by [[Jacinta Ruru]] (2024)<ref>{{cite web |title=Ngā Kupu Wero |url=https://www.read-nz.org/school-library/nga-kupu-wero |website=Read NZ Te Pou Muramura |access-date=26 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
{{Div col end}}

===Other works===
{{Div col|colwidth=40em}}
* ''Maori'' (1975, pamphlet)
* ''New Zealand Through the Arts: past and present'' (1982, lecture)
* ''Waituhi: the life of the village'', by Ihimaera (libretto) and [[Ross Harris (composer)|Ross Harris]] (composer) (1984, opera)
* ''The Clio Legacy'', by Ihimaera (libretto) and [[Dorothy Buchanan (composer)|Dorothy Buchanan]] (1991, [[cantata]])
* ''Tanz Der Schwane'', Ihimaera (libretto) and Ross Harris (composer) (1993, opera)
* ''The Two Taniwha'' (1994, play)
* ''Symphonic Legends'', Ihimaera (text) and [[Peter Scholes]] (composer) (1996)
* ''Land, Sea and Sky'', Ihimaera (text) and [[Holger Leue]] (photographs) (1994)
* ''Legendary Land'', Ihimaera (text) and Holger Leue (photographs), with a foreword by [[Keri Hulme]] (1994)
* ''Faces of the Land'', Ihimaera (text) and Holger Leue (photographs) (1995)
* ''Beautiful New Zealand'', Ihimaera (text) and Holger Leue (photographs) (1997)
* ''Beautiful North Island of New Zealand'', Ihimaera (text) and Holger Leue (photographs) (1997)
* ''Beautiful South Island of New Zealand'', Ihimaera (text) and Holger Leue (photographs) (1997)
* ''This is New Zealand'', Ihimaera and [[Tim Plant]] (text) and Holger Leue (photographs) (1998)
* ''On Top Down Under: photographs of unique New Zealanders'', Ihimaera (text) and [[Sally Tagg]] (photographs) (1998)
* ''New Zealand: first to see the dawn'', Ihimaera (text) and Holger Leue (photographs) (1999)
* ''Woman Far Walking'' (2000, play)
* ''Galileo'', by Ihimaera (libretto) and [[John Rimmer (composer)|John Rimmer]] (composer) (2002, opera)
* ''The Wedding'', with choreographer [[Mark Baldwin (choreographer)|Mark Baldwin]] and composer [[Gareth Farr]] (2006, ballet)
* ''The Amazing Adventures of Razza the Rat'' (2006, children's book)
* ''Navigating the Stars: Māori Creation Myths'' (2020)
{{Div col end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Literature}}
* [[List of honorary doctors of Victoria University of Wellington]]
* [[New Zealand literature]]
* [[Taniwha]] - Ihimaera noted a taniwha guarding him.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Basil Keane |date=2007-09-24 |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/taniwha/page-8 |title= Taniwha - Taniwha today |website=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |access-date=2024-12-01}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [[:mi:Witi Ihimaera|Māori-language biography, including list of works]]—At Māori Wikipedia<!-- Please leave this link in, because it is likely to survive copying by other sites, whereas the standard interwiki template may not. -->
* [https://www.read-nz.org/writer/ihimaera-witi/ Read NZ Te Pou Muramura biography]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080311132411/http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/nzp/nzlit2/ihimaera.htm Extensive bibliography in the New Zealand Literature File], archived copy as at 11 March 2008

{{Robert Burns Fellowship}}
{{Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellows}}
{{Arts Foundation Laureate Award}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ihimaera, Witi}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century New Zealand male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century New Zealand novelists]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Auckland]]
[[Category:Anthologists]]
[[Category:Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]
[[Category:Distinguished Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit]]
[[Category:Halbert-Kohere family]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:New Zealand gay writers]]
[[Category:New Zealand LGBTQ novelists]]
[[Category:New Zealand LGBTQ poets]]
[[Category:New Zealand male novelists]]
[[Category:New Zealand Māori writers]]
[[Category:New Zealand people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Ngāi Tāmanuhiri people]]
[[Category:Ngāi Tūhoe people]]
[[Category:Ngāti Kahungunu people]]
[[Category:Ngāti Porou people]]
[[Category:People educated at Gisborne Boys' High School]]
[[Category:People educated at the Church College of New Zealand]]
[[Category:People from the Gisborne District]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal]]
[[Category:Rongowhakaata people]]
[[Category:Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki people]]
[[Category:Victoria University of Wellington alumni]]
[[Category:Whakatōhea people]]