The incredible likeness of being
by Guy Somerset - from the latest issue of the NZ Listener

The Listener uncovered some surprising similarities to other works in Witi Ihimaera’s The Trowenna Sea. We confronted him with the evidence.

The full text of this article appears in the NZ Listener
(November 9-15 2009), on sale now.

Witi Ihimaera is in the middle of marking exams and essays when he first responds to the Listener about the 16 examples this magazine put to his publisher of striking resemblances between parts of his new historical novel, The Trowenna Sea, and previously published work by other writers.
As well as being one of New Zealand’s leading authors, Ihimaera is a professor and Distinguished Creative Fellow in Maori Literature at the University of Auckland, where he is founder and course convenor of the Masters in Creative Writing programme.

His response comes swiftly. He is apologetic to all parties. During an ensuing interview with him and Geoff Walker, publishing director of Penguin New Zealand, under whose Raupo imprint The Trowenna Sea was released, Ihimaera says he is “horrified” about his “errors”.

The full text will be available at the NZ Listener online on 30/11/2009.
Subscribe online to the NZ Listener.

FOOTNOTE:
Following The NZ Listener story becoming public yesterday, Friday, the University of Auckland has issued the following :

University Of Auckland statement

Professor Witi Ihimaera has apologised for inadvertently using other authors’ material without acknowledgement in his new novel The Trowenna Sea.
Some lines and paragraphs in the 528-page book, amounting to less than 0.4 percent of the total content, were unintentionally included without proper acknowledgement, said Professor Ihimaera, who is Professor of English and Distinguished Creative Fellow in Māori Literature at The University of Auckland.
“I have been working with my publisher, Penguin New Zealand, to contact the authors whose work I did not acknowledge and express my sincere regret and apologies to them. I am deeply sorry and take full responsibility for this oversight. “The authors I have managed to contact understand how it occurred and have accepted my apologies. The passages in question will be fully acknowledged in a future edition of the book.”

“Though the amount of non-attributed material may seem insignificant, any failure to acknowledge the work of others is most regrettable and is of concern to the University,” said the Dean of Arts, Associate Professor Jan Crosthwaite.
“The University of Auckland has investigated this matter and is satisfied there was no deliberate wrongdoing. I have been assured by Professor Ihimaera that he has taken speedy steps to remedy his unfortunate oversight.”