Te Kaikaukau | The Swimmer

I te Ao o te Reo

Witi Ihimaera Smiler

• Publisher: Auckland University Press
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781776712373
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

Novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera – author of Pounamu, Pounamu and The Whale Rider – decided, at the age of eighty, to dive back into the water and spend a year full time at Te Wananga Takiura, immersing himself in his own language, in te reo Maori. 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 Swimmer sparkles with whaikorero and whakatauki and is written for all – Maori and Pakeha, fluent reo Maori speakers and those for whom the language is still a mystery, a dream, an aspiration. It is the story of a Maori 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 tipuna.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Dedication
• Prologue. Te Kaikaukau
• Part One. Ko ahau tēnei — This is me
• Part Two. Tōku tūrangawaewae — This is where I stand
• Part Three. Te kāhui Matariki — The Matariki stars
• Part Four. Ngahau — From Pō! Pō! to Kō! Kō!
• Part Five. Te mana, te ihi me te wehi — The power, the energy and the awe
• Part Six. Āhuatanga ako
• Part Seven. Tū ki te kōrero
• Epilogue. Kia pai te kaukau, swimmer
• Things you say to yourself to keep from drowning
• Sources and further reading
• Te Kaikaukau — Becoming a storysinger