Tokoroa Book Launch During Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani – Cook Islands Language Week

A new book Te Kinakina: E Ngara I te Ngari, Remember who you are and where you come from will be launched tomorrow in Tokoroa during Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani – Cook Island Language Week.

Te Kinakina: E Ngara I te Ngari, Remember who you are and where you come from, is the result of a series of creative writing workshops led by poet Vaughan Rapatahana and facilitated by South Waikato Pacific Island Community Services (SWPICS) with support from the Ministry of Education and Read NZ Te Pou Muramura.

The project is part of Read NZ Te Pou Muramura’s Writers in Communities programme, which aims to nurture new readers and writers within a community and help share their stories widely.

Twelve contributors detail why their families initially travelled to Tokoroa and candidly describe their varied life experiences in South Waikato. The anthology’s editor Vaughan Rapatahana says it’s an important book for two reasons.

“For the first time, it sets out in detail the experiences of Cook Islands women living in Tokoroa, and their combined stories express many emotions, portray many events, and display several consistent themes. I feel privileged to have edited this collection,” says Rapatahana.

Te Kinakina: E Ngara I te Ngari, Remember who you are and where you come from, will be launched at South Waikato Pacific Islands Community Services Trust in Tokoroa.

This year’s theme for Cook Island Language week is ‘Ātuitui’ia au ki te Oneone o tōku ‘Ui Tupuna, Connect me to the soil of my ancestors’. It runs from 1-7 August.

Image credit: Vaughan Rapatahana