Matariki Bennett

Hone Tuwhare, New Zealand’s most famous Māori poet, leaves a legacy to the granddaughter he left behind. To reconnect, she writes a love letter to the world. A national treasure whose poetry spanned over 40 years, the world knew Hone Tuwhare. His mokopuna Manaia never did. Now 18 years old, Manaia feels her koro calling her, triggering an emotional journey of connection in te reo Māori to prove there’s another Tuwhare who writes poetry.

Ma, Heps, Pua, Liz, and Taaps are your average group of twenty-something Māori and Pasifika living in Wellington. Together, this group of friends crash through the city, grappling first with their cultural identities and then with each other.