Te Kaikaukau (The Swimmer)

Te Kaikaukau (The Swimmer)New Zealands leading Mori writer decides at eighty to go back and learn his own language and write about it. Novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera author of Pounamu, Pounamu and The Whale Rider decided, at the age of eighty, to dive back into the water and spend a year full time at Te Wnanga Takiura, immersing himself in his own language, in te reo Mori. This book tells the story of this kaikaukau, this swimmer, and his year i te ao o te

New Zealand’s leading Māori writer decides at eighty to go back and learn his own language – and write about it.

Novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera – author of Pounamu, Pounamu and The Whale Rider – decided, at the age of eighty, to dive back into the water and spend a year full time at Te Wānanga Takiura, immersing himself in his own language, in te reo Māori.

This book tells the story of this kaikaukau, this swimmer, and his year i te ao o te reo – of sinking and floating; of loss and shame, connection and wairua; of fathers and teachers, kuia and friends.

A riveting and revealing memoir, Te Kaikaukau | The Swimmer sparkles with whaikōrero and whakataukī and is written for all – Māori and Pākehā, fluent reo Māori speakers and those for whom the language is still a mystery, a dream, an aspiration.

It is the story of a Māori New Zealander reclaiming his voice, history and whakapapa in contemporary Aotearoa. Of becoming Witi Ihimaera Smiler and drawing closer to his desire to write a novel in te reo for his beloved father Tom and his tīpuna.

Hardcover.