Hinemoana Baker awarded Berlin residency

Well-known Māori writer Hinemoana Baker has been given the opportunity to explore her whakapapa in Germany and write poetry about it.

Hinemoana Baker

Photo: RNZ / Nick Butcher

Hinemoana Baker, of Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa and Te Āti Awa descent, has been awarded Creative New Zealand’s Berlin Writer’s Residency.

The residency, worth more than $40,000, gives Ms Baker accommodation in a Creative New Zealand apartment in Berlin for 11 months to work on a writing project.

She will work on a new collection of poetry and attend poetry events in Poland and Belarus.

Ms Baker said she was looking forward to learning more about her ancestry during her time in Europe.

Her mother’s side of the whānau arrived in Aotearoa from Bavaria in the mid-19th century, and she said the residency would give her the chance to learn more about her ancestry, or tūpuna.

“My mother’s ancestors arrived in New Zealand on the St Pauli from Oberammergau, Bavaria, via Hamburg. Living in Germany would allow me to further investigate these whakapapa connections and write into them,” she said.

“I’ll be learning the language too, so it’s another journey – into learning the language of your ancestors.”

While Ms Baker has a long list of achievements, she said she had not been expecting to be awarded the residency.

Her poetry, fiction and children’s stories have appeared in a series of publications, including the literary journal Sport, the anthology of Māori writing Te Ao Mārama, online literary journal Turbine, the School Journal and in

Article source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/277440/hinemoana-baker-awarded-berlin-residency