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koiwi koiwi | bone bone

by Hinemoana Baker Victoria University Press 2010

LAUNCH SUNDAY 18 JULY 2010

from 4pm

Ballroom Cafe

Newtown Wellington

In this compelling second collection from one of New Zealand’s most exciting poets, Hinemoana Baker amplifies what’s usually whispered, magnifies the microscopic and x-rays the mundane.

Hinemoana Baker is a writer, musician and sound artist living on Wellington’s Kapiti Coast. Born in Christchurch, she has travelled widely, and was 2009 Arts Queensland Poet in Residence. Her first book, published jointly by VUP and in the US by Perceval Press, was mätuhi | needle:

‘It’s that sense of meanings which are mysterious, obscure and submerged and then rise as beauty and wisdom to the surface of our lives.’ Bill Manhire

‘The poems are anchored firmly in a modern world and yet range freely over Baker’s past, lyrically examining a bi-cultural life.’ Mark Houlahan, Dominion Post

‘Baker reconjugates the obvious, making it surprising all over again.’ David Eggleton, Listener

matuhi | needle

by Hinemoana Baker Victoria University Press / Perceval Press 2004

Many cultures converge and challenge each other in the poetry of Hinemoana Baker - most obviously, her parents' Maori and Pakeha ancestries. The need to belong - to the extended and nuclear family - is at odds with the equally pressing need to be an individual in the world.

In 'matuhi | needle', her debut collection, there are poems of praise, love and gratitude. Words, phrases and cultural concepts in the Maori world are given new and different life via her love and recovery of Te Reo - which can be translated as 'the voice'. Other poems are inscribed with the sordid and the badly behaved, or admit to feelings of inadequacy and avoidance. Some reflect a history of personal and political invasion and occupation. All are alive with grace, intellect and control.

The sumptuous design of 'matuhi | needle' is one of its most extraordinary features - though not one reflected in the price. The book comes in a hardcover, square format, with full-colour illustrations by Ngai Tahu artist Jenny Rendall. A compact disc featuring six poems and a song, performed by Hinemoana, is included.

This stunning production is due to an unusual publishing collaboration: 'matuhi' was co-published by Victoria University Press (Wellington, NZ) and Perceval Press (Santa Monica, USA). Perceval is the publishing house of actor, poet, musician, artist and 'Lord of the Rings' star Viggo Mortensen. Viggo and his team designed, produced and printed the book, while VUP dealt with the text-related aspects of the publication. The result is something most first-time poets can only dream of: a hard-cover, fully illustrated, art-conscious design, where the poems sit spaciously with the paintings, each bringing the other to life. The addition of sound - the CD in the back pocket - brings the added dimension of Hinemoana's gorgeous voice to the mix.

'matuhi | needle' is available from all good New Zealand bookstores - RRP NZ$29.95. You can also buy it from this website, or if you're in the Northern Hemisphere, from the Perceval Press website (see links below).

read reviews of 'matuhi | needle'

buy this book from hinemoana's online store

buy this book online from perceval press (santa monica, usa)

New! You can buy 'matuhi | needle' from:

'Lush Design Gallery', 18 Raumati Road, Kapiti Coast

AND from

'The Beach Store', The Parade, Paekakariki, Kapiti Coast

Hinemoana co-edited this edgy new anthology of top New Zealand poetry - 'Kaupapa: New Zealand Poets, World Issues'.

Kaupapa: New Zealand Poets, World Issues - Poets from Aotearoa take on the world. Enormous issues bevelled down to small, shining things. A sackful of hand grenades and fireflies...In this book of superb verse, Tusiata Avia, Roma Potiki, Bill Manhire, James Brown, C K Stead, Jenny Bornholdt, Airini Beautrais, Robert Sullivan and many others carve a new place in a vibrant tradition of New Zealand political poetry.