Tuwhare, Hone

▪ 2009

      Maori poet

born Oct. 21, 1922 , Kaikohe, Northland, N.Z.

died Jan. 16, 2008, Dunedin, N.Z.

made an international impression and became the first widely celebrated Maori poet with his initial collection, No Ordinary Sun (1964). Tuwhare's poetry, written in English, has a conversational tone and incorporates both Maori and biblical rhythms; the subjects range from the political to the personal and often powerfully evoke the beauties of nature. No Ordinary Sun won Tuwhare a fellowship at Otago University in 1969. He published Come Rain Hail (1970) and Sap-wood and Milk (1972) and then helped organize the first Maori Writers and Artists Conference (1973). During the 1970s he was able to give up his job as a railroad boilermaker and devote himself to poetry. Of the many verse collections that followed, Shape-Shifter (1997) and Piggy-Back Moon (2001) won Montana New Zealand Book Awards. Tuwhare was poet laureate of New Zealand in 1999–2000, and in 2003 he, together with novelist Janet Frame and historian Michael King, received the inaugural Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement.

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