The death of poet Hone Tuwhare is a sad occasion for New Zealanders, who will mourn the loss of a beloved and extraordinary man whose grassroots use of language made him more accessible to ordinary people, says Penny Carnaby, National Librarian/Chief Executive of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa.
Born near Kaikohe, Northland in 1922, Tuwhare was of Ngā Puhi, Ngäti Korokoro, Tautahi, Uri o Hau, Te Popoto and Scottish descent. As a boilermaker apprentice with New Zealand Government Railways, he frequented the Otahuhu workshop library, and so began his love of poetry.
Tuwhare credited an early friendship with poet R.A.K Mason as having a big influence on his writing. Encouraged by author and friend Noel Hilliard, he started writing seriously in the mid 1950s. His first poem was published in the Poetry Yearbook in 1958. No Ordinary Sun, his first collection of poetry, followed in 1964. It became a sellout for the first Māori poet to publish a book of poems in the English language, and is now into its 10th reprint.
Some of Tuwhare's earliest poems were printed in the Māori magazine Te Ao Hou, which was published from 1952 to 1975. The National Library has digitised Te Ao Hou and all 76 issues are fully searchable at http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz.
The November 1964 edition carries a review by James K Baxter of No Ordinary Sun: "The keynote of Tuwhare's writing is an uncommon emotional honesty. Each poem is alive from start to finish. The shock of warmth and discovery, as one reads these poems, happens again and again."
In 1969, Tuwhare was named Robert Burns Fellow at the University of Otago. During his time in Dunedin, he met artist Ralph Hotere; a lifelong friendship developed and Hotere created illustrations for four volumes of Tuwhare's poetry.
A prolific writer and recipient of many awards, Tuwhare was also well travelled. It was while working as a boilermaker in Papua New Guinea and Samoa in the 1970s that he met Albert Wendt; in the 1980s, he travelled to Germany for a Commonwealth literary conference, and was Berlin Writer in Residence. He won two Montana New Zealand Book Awards, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Otago in 1998.
In 2001, Tuwhare was named the second Te Mata Estate Poet Laureate, an award now administered by the National Library that recognises outstanding contributions to New Zealand poetry. He produced Piggy Back Moon as his award work. In 2003, he was named an Icon Artist by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, and received one of the inaugural Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement for poetry. In 2005, the year his final collection of poetry, Ooooo…..!!! was published, Tuwhare was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Auckland.
The National Library boasts a comprehensive collection of books, some rare, by and about Tuwhare, including items published overseas and in other languages. Sound recordings of Tuwhare and others reading his poetry or setting it to music are also available.
A special display has been installed on the ground floor at the Library to pay tribute to Tuwhare.
For more information
Serene Ambler
Communications Adviser
Phone (04) 474 3092
