Three Māori Authors Sponsored to World Acclaimed TIBE 2015

Te Puni Kōkiri and the Council of Indigenous Peoples, Taiwan are sponsoring three Māori writers to attend the Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE 2015) which last year attracted over half a million visitors and and 648 publisher exhibitors from around the world.

Tina Makereti, Peti Nohotima and Linda Tuhiwai Smith are the three authors who will join 19 other New Zealand authors, illustrators and graphic novelists already engaged in the Visiting Author Programme.

TIBE 2015 is part of the Te Puni Kōkiri and the Council’s commitment to Chapter 19 of the Economic Cooperation Agreement between the two countries to facilitate economic and cultural cooperation between Māori and indigenous Taiwanese.

Te Puni Kōkiri chief executive Michelle Hippolite said the three sponsored authors would add a rich and unique dimension to the exhibition.

“This is particularly important given our ancestral links to indigenous Taiwan and the increasing economic and cultural opportunities offered by TIBE 2015 which fulfil our goals of Māori succeeding nationally and globally.”

The authors will be involved in a series of events at the New Zealand Pavilion in the fair exhibition hall and in other venues in conjunction with Taiwanese publishers.

The Pavilion is intended to provide a setting conducive to the enjoyment of literature around the theme ‘Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Books’.  It seeks to provide a real life demonstration of ‘open heart, open mind’ for the Taipei book fair illustrating by example the actual experience of openness in Aotearoa New Zealand.   

 New Zealand is the Guest of Honour at TIBE 2015, and is taking advantage of the opportunity to promote and showcase the country in as many ways as possible.

The Guest of Honour Programme, managed by the Publishers Association of New Zealand consists of the Visiting Author Programme, a cultural programme, a substantial publisher presence (both trade and educational publishers selling rights to NZ material), the Graphic Novelist Exchange, and an Illustrations Exhibition in the Children’s Hall.

TIBE 2015 opens on Wednesday 11^th February 2015 and closes on Monday 16^th February.