Witi Ihimaera

With his 1973 book Tangi, Witi Ihimaera became the first Māori to publish both a novel and a collection of short stories. His book The Whale Rider inspired an internationally acclaimed feature film that became one of the highest-grossing foreign titles in 2003. Ihimaera’s work has also inspired films Mahana and White Lies, and has seen television adaptations including landmark big-city tale, Big Brother, Little Sister.

I belong to a proud tradition of Māori story-teller on one side and a great tradition of New Zealand writers going all the way back to Katherine Mansfield. It's a fabulous whakapapa. Witi Ihimaera in the NZ Herald, 2004