PUBLISHER MAKES BUYBACK OFFER TO STEM CRITICISM
Story from Waatea News
Author Witi Ihimaera, is offering to buy back copies of his latest novel.
Ihimaera, who was yesterday named an Arts Foundation laureate, has apologised for not crediting the original sources of some passages in The Trowenna Sea, which follows the story of five Maori imprisoned in Tasmania in the 1840s.
His publisher, Geoff Walker, says Penguin Books New Zealand will take back stock from any bookseller who wishes to return the book.
He says Ihimaera is at the forefront of New Zealand fiction writing, and Penguin is standing beside him.
“Some of his novels such as The Matriarch and Te Uncle’s Story and Bulibasha have been some of the best novels written in English and and have brought I think te ao Maori to a Pakeha readership to a considerable degree. That is one of the key features of his novels, and
The Trowenna Sea contains the same features,” Mr Walker says.
A revised edition of The Trowenna Sea will be published next year with a new section explaining the background and making full acknowledgement to writers whose work is drawn on.
Footnote:
The Bookman has received a number of annonymous comments on this issue which have not been published. Readers of my blog are welcome, encouraged even, to comment on any post made but names must be provided if they are of a negative or critical manner.
2 comments:
"A revised edition of The Trowenna Sea will be published next year with a new section explaining the background and making full acknowledgement to writers whose work is drawn on."
Am I missing something here?
When I read a novel I expect to read something the author has written.
Surely if there is to be a new edition there should be a rewrite which omits any work by other authors.
Sorry Witi you have lost the plot and forgotten what writing a piece of fiction is all about.
You have been found guilty of plagiarism in "The Matriarch" and now in "The Trowenna Sea".
Just reflect on one thing.
Plagiarism is intellectual theft and no amount of apoligising can make up for that.
Well, I left a comment on an earlier post that was neither anonymous nor I thought, libellous etc, querying why Ihimaera could still be a NZ laureate when such a charge against him has been admitted. I don't think it sets a very good example in terms of what we value as a society when trying to promote NZ literature and and advocate for its international recognition.
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