Pakiaka

'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 Ngai 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: 'Is this what Maori women do? Carry the world on their backs?'