Sleeps Standing (ePub)

were being perceived as the 'definitive portrayal' of Maoridom. This was from the mid-1970s when there was a resurgence of Maori activism.

Receiving the premiere Maori arts award Te Tohutiketike a Te Waka Toi, Ihimaera said, 'To be given Maoridom's highest cultural award, well, it's recognition of the iwi. Without them, I would have nothing to write about and there would be no Ihimaera. So this award is for all those ancestors who have made us all the people we are. It is also for the generations to come, to show them that even when you aren't looking, destiny has a job for you to do.'

Ihimaera is a respected commentator on Maori, Pacific and indigenous peoples' affairs, and has been instrumental in ensuring Maori art and literature is supported.


The Parihaka Woman, 'a fun dash through 19th-century New Zealand, speckled with adventure' (Bay of Plenty Times), was the third bestselling New Zealand fiction work in 2010. Recognised for its 'moments of tender beauty' (The New Zealand Herald) and for being 'richly imaginative and original . . . surprising, inventive and deeply moving' it 'confirms Witi Ihimaera as one of New Zealand's finest and most memorable storytellers' (Tararua District Library).

With The Thrill of Falling, Ihimaera has taken a new route with his writing, 'full of experimentation and literary derring-do' (John McCrystal, Weekend Herald). The Saturday Express noted that he writes with 'a great combination of the punchiness of a short story, along with more development of character and plot . . . creating characters that seem to come alive off the pages', the Otago Daily Times reviewer noting that he weaves references to Maori mythology and New Zealand into his stories in 'an easy, playful and relaxed style, while pulling off twists and brilliant touches'.

Hemi Kelly (Author)
Hemi Kelly is of Ngati Maniapoto and Ngati Tahu-Ngati Whaoa descent. He started learning te reo Maori as a young teenager and naturally progressed into teaching roles after study. Hemi is a full-time lecturer in te reo Maori at the Auckland University of Technology. His academic research and writing focus largely on the revitalsation of the Maori language and translation studies.

Hemi is a licensed translator and graduate of Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo (The Institute of Excellence in the Maori Language). In 2017, Hemi translated Witi Ihimaera's novella in Sleeps Standing and published his first book A Maori Word a Day in 2018. In 2019, Hemi published his first creative writing piece in English in Purakau, a collection of Maori myths retold by Maori writers.