Mere Whaanga

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Whaanga, Mere (1952-) is a writer, illustrator, historian and academic. She is of Whaanga of Ngati Rongomaiwahine and Ngati Kahungunu descent.

Mere was born and raised in Wairoa. She completed Te Reo Maori Paetoru at Tairawhiti Polytechnic and a Graduate Diploma in Maori Development from Massey University in 1994. She completed her M Phil Maori Studies at Massey University in 2000.

Whaanga’s books for children include: The Legend of the Seven Whales, He Pakiwaitara a Ngai Tahu Matawhaiti (which was a finalist in 1990 for the NZLA Russell Clark award for illustration), and The Legend of the Seven Whales of Ngai Tahu Matawhaiti: Nga Tahora Tokowhitu a Ngai Tahu Matawhaiti (1990).

Tangaroa’s Gift: Te Koha a Tangaroa (1990) was a finalist in the 1991 AIM Children’s Book Awards, the 1991 NZLA Russell Clark Award for illustration and the NZLA Esther Glen Award for literature. Te Kooti’s Diamond: Te Taimana a Te Kooti (1991) and the text was also published in “Te Ao Marama Vol 4” (1994). Te Tiriti, The Treaty (2003) tells in picture book format how the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 became the founding agreement between the peoples of Aotearoa.

Whaanga’s writing for adults includes a novel in progress All My People, sections of which have appeared in “Te Ao Marama Vol 5” (1996) and “Homeland. Manoa 9:1”(1997). She has also written the commissioned history Bartlett – Mahia to Tawataupu (1990).

Mere Whaanga has long been associated with Iwi/hapu business and community initiatives and describes herself as interested in Maori and indigenous peoples’ development, land and resource management, the creation of training and employment opportunities for Maori as well as literature, especially Maori and children’s and contemporary Maori art.

The Treaty/Te Tiriti was listed as a 2004 Storylines Notable Non-Fiction Book.

A Carved Cloak for Tahu (Auckland University Press, 2004) tells the story of the northern Hawke's Bay hapu of Ngai Tahu Matawhaiti. It is a history that blends old and new, land and people, traditional stories and modern issues. The carvings of the wharenui Te Poho O Tahu at Iwitea, near Wairoa, are the starting point for a tribal history that goes back to Hawaiki.  A Carved Cloak for Tahu was a finalist in the history category at the 2005 Montana New Zealand Book Awards.

The Legend of the Seven Whales of Ngai Tahu Matawhaiti was re-released by Scholastic in 2005 with a new cover designed by Whaanga's daughter, Miriama. It includes the original illustrations and English text by Mere Whaanga, and the Maori text by her father Te Hore Epanaia Whaanga.

Her literary awards include Choysa Bursary for Children’s Writers 1998, Te Ha Award for Maori Writers 1991, QEII Literary fund incentive Grant 1991, Te Waka Toi New Work Grant 2002, and the Ministry of Culture and Heritage Fellowship in Maori History 2001-2003. In 2003, she received the Creative New Zealand Te Waka Toi Writer’s Grant to work on an adult novel, Only the Shadow of Desire.

In addition, Whaanga has also participated as a judge for both the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults (1997-1998), and AIM Children’s Book Awards (1993-1994).

Mere Whaanga lives in Mahia.