Te Ao Hou

Ao Hou, Te / The New World (1952-75) ko tētahi pukapuka reo rua i whakaputaina ia toru marama e te Tari mō ngā Take Māori, i tāngia anō e Pegasus Press, 'to provide,' e ai ki tana tānga tuatahi, 'interesting and informative reading for Maori homes ….. like a marae on paper, where all questions of interest to the Maori can be discussed'. Kāore ngā tānga tuatahi i whakaingoa ko wai te takatā. Mai i te tau 1954 ko Erik Schwimmer tonu, mai i te tau 1960 ki te 1961 nā Bruce Mason ia i whakakapi mō te wā poto, ā, mai i te tau 1962 ki te 1966 ko Margaret Orbell te takatā, nāna anō i kaha whakarahi ngā momo tuhituhinga höhonu i roto, tae atu ki te tuhinga o ētahi tuhituhi tuku iho (pērā i tētahi rārangi tuhinga nui tonu a Mervyn McLean me ētahi tānga tuarua mai i a John White). Nā Joy Stephenson ia i whakakapi, nāna anō i whai i te tānga tonu o te tuhinga purākau, o te whiti hoki.

I taka anō he tuhinga mai i te ahuwhenua ki te tohutao, ki te whakairo rākau, ki ētahi atu mahi toi hoki, tae atu ki ngā pānuitanga mate o ngā tāngata rongonui. I roto anō hoki ngā takohanga tuhituhi, pērā i te whakatakotoranga reo rua i te pakiwaitara ('How Ngarara-Huarau Was Killed' nā Te Whetu, nā T.G. Poutawera i whakamāori), pērā anō i te whiti (he rārangitanga o 'Ngā Titotito a Te Māori', nā Reweti Kohere i whakamāori).

I roto i te kāhui kaikoha taiea ko S.M. (Hirini) Mead, ko Pei Te Hurunui Jones, ko Reweti Kohere, ko Joan Metge, ko J.C. Sturm, ko Kingi Ihaka, ko Maharaia Winiata, ko Turoa Royal, ko Leo Fowler, ko Hone Tuwhare, ko Barry Mitcalfe, ko Rore Hapipi (Rowley Habib), ko Patricia Grace, ko Riki Erehi anō hoki, otirā i whakaorangia anō ngā tuhinga a ētahi kaitito me ētahi kaikōrero purākau o mua (Mohi Turei). I whakahaeretia hoki ētahi whakataetae tuhituhi ā-tau i te reo Māori me te reo Ingarihi.

Timata rawa ai i te marama o Mahuru 1959, kua kōrero te takatā mō 'tētahi whanaketanga o nā noa nei, te putanga mai o ngā kaituhi Māori e whakamātau ana i te tuhituhi purākau, i te purākau poto, i ngā momo whiti hōu hoki ... Hui katoa, arā tonu pea te maha noa o ētahi rōpu tekau-mā-rua Māori kua timata i nā noa nei ki te tuhituhi i te purākau poto, kake tonu ana anō ētahi'. Nō te tau o muri mai, i tana whakawā i tētahi whakataetae (i wini i a Pita Sharples), i tino māia ake anō ia: 'Te āhua nei kei te mātau pumanawa ai te kaituhi Māori he reo te reo Ingarihi e kore e taea tōna rangatiratanga, tōna huhuatanga te tāwhai, ehara noa hoki, pēnei i tā ētahi kaituhi Pākehā maha e whakaatu nei, i te momo tuhi-poto haratau. E tumanako ana ahau - māia tonu tēnei ki āku - i roto i ngā tau kotahi tekau e tu mai ka puta he kaituhi purākau Māori kōhure; ināianei tonu kei te takatu mōna te papa'. Nō te iwa o ngā tau o muri mai, ka tāngia e Witi Ihimaera tāna pukapuka tuatahi.

NW [Nelson Wattie]

He tangohanga i: The Oxford companion to New Zealand literature, he mea ētita e Roger Robinson rāua ko Nelson Wattie. Aotearoa: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Kei te mihi nui Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa mō ngā tautoko a ngā kaiētita o te Oxford Companion mō te whakawātea tuihonotia mai tēnei wāhanga.

Ao Hou, Te / The New World (1952—75) was a bilingual quarterly published by the Maori Affairs Department, and printed by Pegasus Press, 'to provide,' as its first issue said, 'interesting and informative reading for Maori homes ….. like a marae on paper, where all questions of interest to the Maori can be discussed'. The earliest issues did not name the editor. From 1954 it was Erik Schwimmer, from 1960 to 1961 he was temporarily replaced by Bruce Mason, and from 1962 to 1966 the editor was Margaret Orbell, who considerably increased the literary content, including the transcription of traditional work (such as a major series by Mervyn McLean and reprints from John White). She was replaced by Joy Stephenson, who continued to publish much fiction and poetry.

Articles ranged from agriculture through recipes to wood carving and other crafts, as well as biographically important obituaries. There were also literary contributions, such as the bilingual presentation of legends ('How Ngarara-Huarau Was Killed' by Te Whetu, translated by T.G. Poutawera), and poems (a series of 'Nga Titotito a Te Māori', translated by Reweti Kohere).

Distinguished contributors included S.M. (Hirini) Mead, Pei Te Hurunui Jones, Reweti Kohere, Joan Metge, J.C. Sturm, Kingi Ihaka, Maharaia Winiata, Turoa Royal, Leo Fowler, Hone Tuwhare, Barry Mitcalfe, Rowley Habib (Rore Hapipi), Patricia Grace and Riki Erehi, while works by older poets and storytellers (Mohi Turei) were revived. There were also annual literary competitions in Māori and in English.

As early as September 1959, the editor commented on 'a quite recent development, the emergence of Maori writers attempting the novel, the short story and modern verse forms ….. Altogether there must have been some dozens of Maoris who have recently started to write short stories, some with definite success'. In the following year, in judging a competition (won by Pita Sharples), he was even bolder: 'The Maori writer seems instinctively to understand that the English language is one of unrivalled majesty and richness, not, as many pakehas demonstrate, a convenient method of shorthand. I expect - I say this in full confidence - that the next ten years will produce a Maori novelist of outstanding talent; already the ground is being prepared for him'. Nine years later Witi Ihimaera published his first book.

NW [Nelson Wattie]

Extract from: The Oxford companion to New Zealand literature, edited by Roger Robinson and Nelson Wattie. Auckland [N.Z.]: Oxford University Press, 1998.

The National Library gratefully acknowledges the support of the editors of the Oxford Companion in making this extract available online.