A many-voiced journey following the people, places, memories and stories of Kerikeri. History looks different here.
Through poetry, short prose, interviews and histories in both te reo Māori and English, writers with a Kerikeri connection explore the town and the country around it. Their work moves between pā and mission houses, orchards and galleries, riverbanks and roads, tracing the lives and histories held within the landscape.
About the book
Ngā Ripo Wai | Swirling Waters explores Kerikeri through poetry, short stories, interviews and histories in both te reo Māori and English. Writers with a connection to the area look at its people, landscape and past from many different perspectives, moving from Kororipo Pā to the Stone Store, from orchards and riverbanks to the airport, markets and galleries.
The collection reaches across Kerikeri’s long and complex history, from Māori settlement and the arrival of Europeans to the community that lives there today. Along the way are stories of love and loss, conflict and connection, floods and dusty roads, gardens and gatherings, and the changing relationship between people and place. Contributors include Glenn Colquhoun, Fiona Kidman, Piet Nieuwland, Vivienne Plumb, Vaughan Rapatahana and Briar Wood, alongside other writers with strong Kerikeri connections.
Together their work creates a layered portrait of a place that has never had just one story. History looks different here.
Praise for Ngā Ripo Wai | Swirling Waters
“It begins with the local and it makes the local significant as it celebrates complexity, connection, creativity.… As readers and writers, we are breathing in and out the possibilities of words.”
— Paula Green, Kete“Is Kerikeri a settled place? Yes and no. That tension is what makes this anthology so much fun to read and so worthwhile to think about.”
— Lynn Jenner“It digs much deeper than the tourist-friendly establishments … One of the most attractive features of the anthology is the wide variety of contributors.”
— North & South Magazine“It feels as if the floodgates on Northland’s literary prowess has been opened, and a pouring of heart and soul is the outcome.”
— Chris Reed, NZ Booklovers
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About Ngā Ripo Wai | Swirling Waters
About the author
Ngā Ripo Wai | Swirling Waters was edited by Kathy Derrick, Jac Jenkins and Kipa Munro, and brings together writers with connections to Kerikeri and the wider Northland community. Contributors include Glenn Colquhoun, Fiona Kidman, Piet Nieuwland, Vivienne Plumb, Vaughan Rapatahana and Briar Wood, alongside local writers, artists, historians and younger voices.
