Apirana Taylor | |
|---|---|
 Taylor in 1996 | |
| Born | 15 March 1955 Wellington, New Zealand |
| Occupation | Poet, novelist |
| Period | 1979–2004 |
| Relatives | Rangimoana Taylor (brother), Riwia Brown (sister) |
Apirana Taylor (born 15 March 1955) is a New Zealand writer known for his poetry, short stories, novels and plays.
Born in Wellington 15 March 1955, Apirana Taylor is of Pākehā and Māori descent with affiliations to Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Ngāti Ruanui. [1]
Taylor was a runner-up for the Pegasus Book Award in 1985, for He Rau Aroha: A Hundred Leaves of Love. [2]
He was a prominent member of the Māori theatre cooperative Te Ohu Whakaari alongside his brother Rangimoana Taylor, who founded the group, and their sister Riwia Brown. Plays of Taylors that Te Ohu Whakaari presented included Kohanga about the kohanga reo movement of Māori language revival and TeWhānau a Tuanui Jones. [3] [4] Kohanga was awarded 'best debut play' by the Dominion Post. [4]
Taylor has published three volumes of poetry – Eyes of the Ruru (1979), Soft Leaf Falls of the Moon (1997) and Te Ata Kura; the red-tipped dawn (2004); three short-story collections; a novel, He Tangi Aroha (1993); 3 CDs (two are poetry with music, the other is children’s stories) [5] and two plays.
Taylor's play Whaea Kairau: Mother Hundred Eater (1995) first produced by Taki Rua is described as a 'seminal Maori theatre work'. The play is an epic story set in the late 1840s in New Zealand, the central character is a dispossessed Irish woman and family. [6]
Poetry by Taylor was included in UPU, a curation of Pacific Island writers’ work which was first presented at the Silo Theatre as part of the Auckland Arts Festival in March 2020. [7] UPU was remounted as part of the Kia Mau Festival in Wellington in June 2021. [8] He has also published:
Waitaha, an early Māori iwi, inhabited the South Island of New Zealand. They were largely absorbed via marriage and conquest – first by the Ngāti Māmoe and then by Ngāi Tahu – from the 16th century onward. Today those of Waitaha descent are represented by the Ngāi Tahu iwi. Like Ngāi Tahu today, Waitaha was itself a collection of various ancient iwi. Kāti Rākai was said to be one of Waitaha's hapū.
Kura kaupapa Māori are Māori-language immersion schools in New Zealand, where the philosophy and practice reflect Māori cultural values with the aim of revitalising Māori language, knowledge and culture. Kura kaupapa Māori are established under the Education Act (1989). The term kaupapa Māori is used by Māori to mean any particular plan of action created by Māori to express Māori aspirations, values and principles.
Traditional Māori poetry was always sung or chanted, musical rhythms rather than linguistic devices served to distinguish it from prose. There is a large store of traditional chants and songs. Rhyme or assonance were not devices used by the Māori; only when a given text is sung or chanted will the metre become apparent. The lines are indicated by features of the music. The language of poetry tends to differ stylistically from prose. Typical features of poetic diction are the use of synonyms or contrastive opposites, and the repetition of key words. As with poetry in other languages: "Archaic words are common, including many which have lost any specific meaning and acquired a religious mystique. Abbreviated, sometimes cryptic utterances and the use of certain grammatical constructions not found in prose are also common".
The New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI) is an indigenous traditional art school located in Rotorua New Zealand. It operates the national schools of three major Māori art forms.
Briar Grace-Smith is a screenwriter, director, actor, and short story writer from New Zealand. She has worked as an actor and writer with the Maori theatre cooperative Te Ohu Whakaari and Maori theatre company He Ara Hou. Early plays Don't Call Me Bro and Flat Out Brown, were first performed at the Taki Rua Theatre in Wellington in 1996. Waitapu, a play written by Grace-Smith, was devised by He Ara Hou and performed by the group on the Native Earth Performing Arts tour in Canada in 1996.
Rangimoana Taylor is an actor, theatre director, storyteller from New Zealand with more than 35 years in the industry. He has performed nationally and internationally and was the lead in the feature film Hook Line and Sinker (2011). He was an intrinsic part of three Māori theatre companies, Te Ohu Whakaari and Taki Rua in Wellington and Kilimogo Productions in Dunedin.
Noeline Edith "Bub" Bridger was a New Zealand poet and short story writer and actor, who often performed her own work and drew inspiration from her Māori, Irish and English ancestry.
Wiremu Doherty is a New Zealand Māori educationalist and academic of Tūhoe and Ngāti Awa descent. He is the past-principal of the first kaupapa Māori school. He received his PhD in education from the Auckland University in 2010 and is currently a professor at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi and chair of the Māori strategy committee for New Zealand Qualifications Authority.
Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi is a wānanga based in Whakatāne, New Zealand, established in 1991 by Ngāti Awa.
Melinda Szymanik, born 1963, is an author from New Zealand. She writes picture books, short stories and novels for children and young adults and lives in Auckland, New Zealand.
Roma Potiki is a New Zealand poet, playwright, visual artist, curator, theatre actor and director, as well as a commentator on Māori theatre. She is of Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri and Ngāti Rangitihi descent. As well as being a published poet, her work is included in the permanent collection of the Dowse Art Museum.
Te Ohu Whakaari was a Māori theatre cooperative formed by Rangimoana Taylor in the early 1980s that created and performed plays across New Zealand.
Taki Rua is a theatre organisation based in Wellington, New Zealand that has produced many contemporary Māori theatre productions. Taki Rua has been going since 1983 and has had several name changes over that time including The New Depot, Depot Theatre and Taki Rua / The Depot. The full current name is Taki Rua Productions. Since inception the mission of Taki Rua has been to showcase work from New Zealand. Because of this and the longevity of Taki Rua many significant New Zealand actors, directors, writers, designers and producers have part of the history including Riwia Brown, Nathaniel Lees, Rachel House and Taika Waititi.
Roka Pahewa Paora, née Swinton, QSM was a pioneer of the Māori language, developing materials to teach the language within a whakapapa framework.
Kilimogo Productions is bicultural theatre collective based in Ōtepoti Dunedin that was founded in 1995 or 1996.
Ngāreta Mary Gabel is a New Zealand children's author and teacher, known for her te reo Māori children's picture book Tekiteora, kei hea o hu?, later published in English as Oh Hogwash, Sweet Pea!.
Brianne Te Paa is a New Zealand writer and schoolteacher. Her children's picture book Kua Whetūrangitia A Koro received the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for the best children's book in te reo Māori at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in 2023.
Kura Paul-Burke is a New Zealand Māori marine scientist, and is the first woman Māori professor of marine science at the University of Waikato. Her research focuses on mātauranga Māori and aquaculture.
Marlene Joan Bennetts is a New Zealand poet and children's author.
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