Journalist, author and longtime broadcaster Dr Atakohu Middleton is making literary history with a new book believed to be the first sole-authored collection of short stories written entirely in te reo Māori.
Waka Aroha: He Kohinga Pakipoto, published by Auckland University Press today, brings together 15 original stories spanning crime, whānau drama, magical realism, social commentary and coming-of-age tales — all told through te reo Māori.
For Middleton, a colleague of veteran Māori broadcaster Dale Husband and a journalist with three decades of experience, the book represents another step in ensuring te reo Māori is not simply preserved but used to tell the full range of stories about contemporary Aotearoa.
15 STORIES — ALL IN TE REO MĀORI
At approximately 50,000 words and 176 pages, Waka Aroha is a substantial contribution to the growing body of contemporary Māori-language literature.
The collection takes readers into very different worlds.
There is a car-obsessed rangatahi with a need for speed, a determined wahine Māori detective navigating both the physical and spiritual worlds, police procedurals, whānau stories, fantasy and young people finding their way into adulthood.
That variety is deliberate.
Rather than limiting Māori-language fiction to a particular subject or traditional setting, Middleton demonstrates that te reo Māori can carry crime, humour, drama, social issues, fantasy and the everyday experiences of modern life.
It is te reo Māori doing what every living language should be able to do — telling any story its speakers want to tell.
A BOOK FOR LEARNERS AS WELL AS FLUENT SPEAKERS
One of the most important features of Waka Aroha is its accessibility.
Middleton has written the stories for readers ranging from intermediate-level learners and wharekura students through to fluent speakers, deliberately using accessible language and plenty of dialogue.
She understands the challenge from personal experience.
Middleton learned te reo Māori at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, in the mid-1990s and has designed the collection so learners can concentrate on enjoying the stories rather than constantly struggling to decode the language.
That potentially makes Waka Aroha more than a work of fiction.
It becomes another resource for language revitalisation — something readers can pick up because they want a good story while strengthening their reo at the same time.
CHILD POVERTY BECOMES A POWERFUL STORY
Some of the stories also tackle difficult realities confronting modern Aotearoa.
One of Middleton’s favourites, He iti nā te aroha, grew from her concern about child poverty and homelessness.
The story initially presents an ordinary scene between a mother and daughter preparing for bed, before gradually revealing that the whānau is living without a home and sleeping in a vehicle.
It demonstrates how Middleton’s journalism and fiction intersect.
After decades reporting on New Zealand society, she is using another form of storytelling to explore inequality and the experiences of people who can disappear behind statistics.
WAKA AROHA IS ALSO A WHĀNAU STORY
The final story, which gives the collection its name, comes from somewhere much more personal.
Waka Aroha follows a teenager during the 1960s and his adventures with fast cars.
It was inspired by Middleton’s late father Ron, who loved cars, and draws on details and stories she recorded from him before his death.
That gives the title another layer.
Across the collection are stories generated by social concern, imagination, humour and memory — but also by aroha and the desire to preserve the stories carried within whānau.
THREE DECADES OF JOURNALISM BEHIND THE BOOK
Middleton brings an extensive media background to the project.
She has worked as a reporter and feature writer for more than 30 years, including at the New Zealand Herald, and was New Zealand’s Commonwealth Press Union Harry Brittain Fellow in 2005.
She has won six national media awards and has also worked as a senior lecturer at AUT.
Her first book, Kia Hiwa Rā! Māori Journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand, was published by Huia in 2023 and grew from her doctoral research into Māori journalism.
That background makes Waka Aroha an interesting progression.
Journalism records what is happening.
Academic research examines why it matters.
Fiction creates room to imagine, challenge, remember and feel.
Middleton has now worked across all three.
WHY DID IT TAKE UNTIL 2026?
Perhaps the most striking aspect of Waka Aroha is that its milestone arrives in 2026.
Aotearoa has a rich history of Māori writing and Māori-language literature, including translations and te reo editions of major works. Witi Ihimaera’s landmark Pounamu Pounamu, for example, was published in a te reo Māori edition in 2023.
But Auckland University Press and the University of Auckland describe Waka Aroha as the first sole-authored collection of original short stories written entirely in te reo Māori, while the Mātātuhi Foundation describes it as the first collection of short stories for adults written in the language.
That distinction matters.
Language revitalisation cannot depend solely on dictionaries, classrooms and translations.
A thriving language needs novels, thrillers, comedy, romance, fantasy, children’s books, journalism, television, music — and shelves filled with stories originally imagined and written in that language.
Waka Aroha adds another piece to that ecosystem.
LAUNCHING WITH TE WIKI O TE REO MĀORI
The book arrives in stores today, 10 September, with its official launch taking place at Waipapa Marae at the University of Auckland on Monday 14 September, marking the beginning of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.
The timing carries particular significance.
Te Wiki is about encouraging people to speak, hear, learn and celebrate te reo Māori.
Waka Aroha asks people to do something else as well.
Read it.
Read te reo for pleasure. Read it for mystery. Read it for humour. Read it for whānau stories. Read it because a character makes you laugh, challenges you or stays in your mind after the final page.
That is ultimately why Middleton’s milestone matters.
The future of te reo Māori will not only be measured by how many people can speak it — but by whether generations of Māori can live, laugh, argue, imagine, create and tell every kind of story through it. Waka Aroha puts another 15 of those stories into the world.
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