“Māori are writers, thinkers and intellectuals. We always have been,” write the editors of Books of Mana, “for generations they recorded their knowledge through karanga, whaikōrero, mōteatea, karakia, purakau, waiata and whakatauki.”

Books of Mana builds on the work of editors Jacinta Ruru (Raukawa, Ngāti Ranginui), Angela Wanhalla (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe) and Jeanette Wikaira (Ngāti Pukenga, Ngāti Tamaterā, Ngāpuhi), who curated Te Takarangi, a selected list of Māori-authored non-fiction books published since 1815 in partnership with Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga and the Royal Society Te Apārangi. It reveals the central place of over 200 years of print literacy within te ao Māori and vividly conveys how books are taonga, handed down through generations.

The editors join Miriama Kamo (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga) to discuss this important work and reflect on two centuries of Māori writing that has enriched lives and helped foster understanding of Māori experience, both at home and internationally.