‘To NZ he was a famous poet; to me he was my Koro’
Eighteen-year-old spoken word poet Manaia Tuwhare-Hoani always yearned to meet her Koro — New Zealand’s most distinguished and beloved Ma¯ori poet — the late Hone Tuwhare.
This year she was offered the chance to reconnect with him through their shared love of poetry when her best friend — fellow poet Matariki Bennett — invited her to be the subject of the newly released Loading Docs short documentary Wind Song and Rain.
The documentary chronicles Tuwhare-Hoani’s trip to Ka¯ka¯ Point in South Otago to visit Tuwhare’s crib, the last place he lived before he died in 2008.
Tuwhare first moved to Ka¯ka¯ Point in 1969 when he was awarded the Robert Burns Fellowship from Otago University. He bought the modest crib overlooking the ocean in 1992. He wrote some important works there, including the book Piggy-Back Moon,
which won the poetry division of the 2002 Montana Book awards.
Tuwhare-Hoani said the film project “just felt right” when director Bennett asked her to take part.
“I knew this journey was going to be very emotional and that scared me, but I trust Matariki to always hold space for me and my emotions.”
While at the crib, Tuwhare-Hoani speaks to Tuwhare through poetry.
“It is like our own secret language that we communicate through. I knew Koro would understand me more through poetry because it’s how I understand him. For that poem was everything I could and couldn’t say to him at the same time.”
Tuwhare-Hoani and Bennett started writing poetry together at Western Springs College in 2017. They were in the te reo Ma¯ori immersion unit Nga¯ Puna o Waio¯rea together.
Their spoken work poetry group, Nga¯ Hinepu¯ko¯rero, has won awards in New Zealand and Melbourne, and performed in Las Vegas. The group garnered attention for their poem performed at a Black Lives Matter rally last year.
“It wasn’t until a few months of us all writing poetry together that we learned Manaia’s great-grandfather is Hone Tuwhare,” Bennett said. “Then it all made sense. Poetry runs in Manaia’s blood.”
Tuwhare-Hoani said that as a child she always felt she had missed out on knowing “Koro Hone”.
“I wanted to make this film for so many different reasons, most selfish, like wanting to explore my roots and poetry more deeply, wanting to meet Koro as Koro, not as the famous poet Hone Tuwhare.
“I thought going back to the crib would be a good idea because I had never been there before, and whenever I thought about that place I imagined it had this vibe. I always felt like it was just calling me to come home and have a cuppa.”
Tuwhare-Hoani grew up speaking te reo Ma¯ori and learned English by reading Tuwhare’s poetry books. He was also immersed in Ma¯ori language as a child, and according to TuwhareHoani, he learned English from the Bible. “His poetry books are my Bible,” she adds.
“When we first drove through Ka¯ka¯ Point, I had this moment in the van where I let out this sigh of content and rightness,” said Tuwhare-Hoani. “This entire experience was just necessary, with no explanation why. As if the stars had predicted it and they were waiting patiently for me to follow the path they set.”
Bennett said the project had given her a deep appreciation for Tuwhare and his generation of Ma¯ori artists and activists.
“We grew up with their art, and all of our own art nowadays is almost a mirror, or a ripple on from theirs. I hope that the older generations of artists can feel at ease, knowing there’s another generation of artists continuing on their legacies.”
Wind Song and Rain is launched today as part of the Loading Docs 2021 collection and can be viewed on nzherald.co.nz or loadingdocs.net