Sky Dancer

A powerful, prize-winning novella from the much-loved author of , plus a moving screenplay, film stills and commentary on writing and movie making.

A medicine woman — a giver of life — is asked to hide a secret that may protect a position in society, but could have fatal consequences. When she is approached by the servant of a wealthy woman, three very different women become players in a head-on clash of beliefs, deception and ultimate salvation. This compelling story tackles moral dilemmas, exploring the nature of identity, societal attitudes to the roles of women and the tension between Western and traditional Maori medicine. This book, though, is also about the richness of creativity, illustrating the way a single story can take on different lives.

The original novella, , has been rewritten and expanded by Witi Ihimaera to become . It has also evolved into a screenplay by internationally acclaimed director and screenwriter Dana Rotberg, which has been made into a superb film by South Pacific Pictures. Thus this book offers an intriguing insight into the process of adapting work, as well as offering new versions of this potent story.

Nga Kupu Ora — Aotearoa Maori Book Awards 2013, winner of the Te Pakimaero / Fiction category

Eight-year-old Kahu craves her great-grandfather’s love and attention. But he is focused on his duties as chief ofa Maori tribe in Whangara, on the East Coast of New Zealand — a tribe that claims descent from the legendary ‘whale rider’. In every generation since the whale rider, a male has inherited the title of chief. But now there is no male heir — there’s only kahu. She should be the next in line for the title, but her great-grandfather is blinded by tradition and sees no use for a girl. Kahu will not be ignored. And in her struggle she has a unique ally: the whale rider himself, from whom she has inherited the ability to communicate with whales. Once that sacred gift is revealed, Kahu may be able to re-establish her people’s ancestral connections, earn her great-grandfather’s attention — and lead her tribe to a bold new future.

Michael Mahana’s personal disclosure to his parents leads to the uncovering of another family secret about his uncle, Sam, who had fought in the Vietnam War. Now, armed with his uncle’s diary, Michael goes searching for the truth about his uncle, about the secret the Mahana family has kept hidden for over thirty years, and what happened to Sam.Set in the war-torn jungles of Vietnam and in present-day New Zealand and North America, Witi Ihimaera’s dramatic novel combines the superb story-telling of Bulibasha, King of the Gypsies with the unflinching realism of Nights in the Gardens of Spain. A powerful love story, it courageously confronts Maori attitudes to sexuality and masculinity and contains some of Ihimaera’s most passionate writing to date.

A stunning collection of stories from one of New Zealand’s favourite authors.

What’s new? A young woman utters her favourite mantras to take on the world. An old woman lives like a diva, re-enacting Casablanca. In a rewrite of a play, a singer becomes a rock chick in London. Moby Dick is reincarnated as an iceberg. Darwin’s giant tortoises on the Galapagos Islands are re-encountered. A young man adds a twist to his intriguing heritage.

In this richly imaginative and compelling collection of longer stories, Witi Ihimaera makes a playful and delightfully unique nod to influences from the past. Ranging across an intriguing and innovative variety of styles, subjects and settings, they defy the expected to reaffirm Ihimaera as one of New Zealand’s finest technicians and storytellers.

This anniversary edition of Witi Ihimaera’s Pounamu Pounamu celebrates the 40th year in print of one of New Zealand’s most seminal works of fiction. When Pounamu Pounamu was published in 1972, it was a landmark occasion for New Zealand literature in many ways. It was the first work of fiction published by a Maori writer, it was the first collection of short stories that looked at contemporary Maori life and it launched the career of one of New Zealand’s best-known authors. The Pounamu Pounamu 40th Anniversary Edition is a beautiful hardback collector’s volume. It features a foreword by Dame Fiona Kidman and a commentary by Witi Ihimaera on each of the stories. In these author’s notes Witi looks back to events from his own childhood that inspired Pounamu Pounamu and the experience of writing and launching the book as a young man in the early ’70s.

A wonderfully surprising, inventive and deeply moving riff on fact and fiction, history and imagination from one of New Zealand's finest and most memorable storytellers. There has never been a New Zealand novel quite like The Parihaka Woman. Richly imaginative and original, weaving together fact and fiction, it sets the remarkable story of Erenora against the historical background of the turbulent and compelling events that occurred in Parihaka during the 1870s and 1880s. Parihaka is the place Erenora calls home, a peaceful Taranaki settlement overcome by war and land confiscation. As her world is threatened, Erenora must find within herself the strength, courage and ingenuity to protect those whom she loves. And, like a Shakespearean heroine, she must change herself before she can take up her greatest challenge and save her exiled husband, Horitana.

A wry, touching short story from one of New Zealand's best-loved writers.

When Uncle Rangiora visits his sister and dances with her in the garden, she knows she has to visit the place where he died, and where he and other of his comrades from the Maori Battalion were buried during the Second World War. His sister is an old woman now, her husband is even older, but that's not going to stop them from setting off across the world alone, to the great consternation of their children who wonder if they will ever get there and back.

This moving and entertaining story is a fictionalised version of the trip to Tunisia taken by the author's elderly parents. Musing upon postcolonial politics and perspectives, it also considers the lyrical form the author used at the beginning of his literary career and the wit, style and drama that readers can discover in his newer works.

Bulibasha is the title given to the King of the Gypsies, and on the East Coast of New Zealand two patriarchs fight to be proclaimed the king. Tamihana is the leader of the great Mahana family of shearers and sportsmen and women. Rupeni Poata is his arch enemy. The two families clash constantly, in sport, in cultural contests and, finally, in the Golden Fleece competition to find the greatest shearing gang in New Zealand. Caught in the middle of this struggle is the teenager Simeon, grandson of the patriarch and of his grandmother Ramona, struggling with his own feelings and loyalties as the battles rage on many levels.This award-winning novel is being reissued to tie in with the release of Mahana, the stunning film adaptation of the novel.

Сборник познакомит советского читателя с творчеством аборигенов Австралии и Океании — новым явлением на литературной карте мира.

Произведения, вошедшие в сборник, отражают самобытность тихоокеанских народов, особенности их исторического и культурного развития.