Photo: Phil Johnson
Legendary author Witi Ihimaera is the man behind Whale Rider and Pounamu Pounamu.
Already a celebrated master of the pen, at the age of 80 he felt a yearning to master something new and learn te reo Māori. While many people assumed he could already speak it, Witi grew up without becoming fluent in his tūpuna reo, encouraged instead to pursue achievements in the Pākehā world.
After wrestling with deeply personal challenges that had held him back for decades, he took the leap and enrolled for an infamously difficult year-long crash course, with full-immersion lessons conducted in Māori only.
His journey has been documented in a new podcast, Witi Underwater, by Te Pūrongo Productions.
You can listen to the podcast at 5pm on Monday 16 June, with a new episode dropping each day of the week of Matariki.
