Haare Williams : Words of a Kaumatua

Ko te kopara anake e tarere ki te tihi o te makauri. Oti rawa! Kia oti rawa, e!

Haare Williams grew up with his Tuhoe grandparents on the shores of Ohiwa Harbour in a te reo world of Tane and Tangaroa, Te Kooti and the old testament, of Nani Wai and curried cockle stew – a world that Haare left behind when he learnt English at school and moved to Auckland.

Over the last half-century, through the Maori arts movement, waves of protest and the rise of Maori broadcasting, Haare Williams has witnessed and played a part in the changing shape of Maoridom. And in his poetry and prose, in te reo Maori and English, Haare has a unique ability to capture both the wisdom of te ao Maori and the transformation of that world.

This book, edited and introduced by Witi Ihimaera, brings together the poetry and prose of Haare Williams to produce a work that is a biography of the man and his times, a celebration of a kaumatua and an exemplar of his wisdom.