Three-time winner of the Wattie/Montana Book of the Year award, Katherine Mansfield fellow, and playwright Witi Ihimaera is one of New Zealands most accomplished writers. Bulibasha, King of the Gypsies won the Wattie/Montana Book of the Year award in 1995 and he won it in 1974 and 1986 for Tangi and The Matriarch respectively. His other fiction titles include The Dream Swimmer (sequel to the award winning The Matriarch); Pounamu, Pounamu; Whanau; The New Net Goes Fishing; The Whale Rider; Dear Miss Mansfield; Kingfisher Come Home; and Nights In The Gardens of Spain. Ihimaera has also edited a major five volume collection of new Maori fiction and non-fiction, called the Te Aro Marama series. In 1993 Witi Ihimaera spent a year in France on the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship. His first play, Woman Far Walking premiered at the International Festival of Arts, Wellington earlier this year. It is Witi Ihimaera's writing that also opened the door to his political career. When the then US Ambassador to New Zealand read a copy of Pounamu, Pounamu he passed it onto the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Norman Kirk. At Mr Kirk's request, Witi Ihimaera joined the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and served as a diplomat in Canberra, New York and Washington. His political career has been significant, he is a respected commentator on Maori, Pacific and indigenous peoples' affairs and has held such diverse roles as liaison officer for Black Power in Wellington. He has also been instrumental in ensuring the Maori art and literature is supported.
