May 2025
$25
40 pages, softbound with flaps
148 x 210mm
ISBN: 978-1-98-850344-8
Pakiaka, the lean, essential debut volume by Gabrielle Huria, is a timely reminder of how good poetry can be at storytelling. The stories Huria tells are local and cosmic, firmly rooted in Ng膩i Tahu whakapapa and Te Waipounamu history but always attuned to the wide, interconnected world. These are accounts of stolen land and agricultural negligence, but also of tradition, connection, kaitiakitanga, birds, eels, rivers and winds. Of sharing kai and responsibilities. These are poems that scoff at our complacencies and ask a vital question: 鈥業s this what M膩ori women do? Carry the world on their backs?鈥櫬
鈥業 can feel the electricity in this beautiful book. There are tears here and laughter. There鈥檚 truth-telling and rage. There鈥檚 love.鈥 鈥擝ernadette Hall
鈥Pakiaka is a heartfelt thing of beauty; a mov颅ing and evocative celebration of the natural world written with great delicacy. A gorgeous debut.鈥 鈥擵ictor Rodger
Gabrielle Huria is Ng膩i T奴膩huriri / Ng膩i Tahu. She lives with her extended wh膩nau at Tuahiwi in North Canterbury. Gabrielle is a keen practitioner of Ng膩i Tahu mahinga kai (traditional food gathering). This collection of poems is part family chronicle and part a settling of accounts 鈥 a depiction of being Ng膩i Tahu in a modern world.聽
