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The honorary president of the New Zealand Society of Authors, Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa, wants to encourage people involved in kapa haka to put their stories on into print.
Witi Ihimaera will hold the position for a year.
He intends to advocate for iwi-led publishing, strong relationships with Māori publishers like Huia and the Kotahi Rau Pukapuka 100 books in te reo project, and to encourage the next generation of Māori authors.
“I’ve always said the next cohort of Maori writers will come out of kapa haka groups and people who understand te reo so we can find the Timoti Karetu and the Patricia Grace of tomorrow,” he says.
The society also wants to establish a Maori writers’ award, and Ihimaera says there’s room for a branch solely for Māori writers.
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