Te Kaikaukau | the Swimmer

Novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera - author of Pounamu, Pounamuand The Whale Rider- decided, at the age of eighty, to dive back into the water and spend a year full time at Te Wānanga Takiura, immersing himself in his own language, in te reo Māori.

This book tells the story of this kaikaukau, this swimmer, and his year i te ao o te reo - of sinking and floating; of loss and shame, connection and wairua; of fathers and teachers, kuia and friends.

A riveting and revealing memoir, Te Kaikaukau | The Swimmersparkles with whaikōrero and whakataukī and is written for all - Māori and Pākehā, fluent reo Māori speakers and those for whom the language is still a mystery, a dream, an aspiration.

It is the story of a Māori New Zealander reclaiming his voice, history and whakapapa in contemporary Aotearoa. Of becoming Witi Ihimaera Smiler and drawing closer to his desire to write a novel in te reo for his beloved father Tom and his tīpuna.