In this pioneering anthology, two leading Maori poets and scholars collect together the major Maori poetic voices in English and let flow a wellspring of Maori poetry.

From revered established writers as well as exciting new voices, the poems in Puna Wai Korero offer a broad picture of Maori poetry in English. The voices are many and diverse: confident, angry, traditional, respectful, experimental, despairing and full of hope, expressing a range of poetic techniques and the full scope of what it is to be Maori. There are poems from all walks of life and modes of writing, laments for koro and hopes for mokopuna, celebrations of the land and anger at its abuse, retellings of myth and reclamations of history. Puna Wai Korero collects work from the many iwi and hapu of Aotearoa as well as Maori living in Australia and around the world, featuring the work of Hone Tuwhare, J. C. Sturm, Trixie Te Arama Menzies, Keri Hulme, Apirana Taylor, Roma Potiki, Hinemoana Baker, Tracey Tawhiao and others - as well as writers better known for forms other than poetry such as Witi Ihimaera, Paula Morris and Ngahuia Te Awekotuku. Short biographies are given for each poet, and the introduction, glossary and poem dates will make this taonga of Maori poetry especially useful in schools.