Poorhara – Michelle Rahurahu

READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS

Written by Michelle Rahurahu (Ngāti Rahurahu, Ngāti Tahu, Ngāti Whaoa) Poorhara uses a play on the word Pōhara (poverty), and is about living without – without money or possessions, and without the same rights and respect as others. The plot follows Erin and Whetu (Star) who are cousins traversing the North Island in an old car, with a nameless dog, visiting places and people. The cousins are seeking belonging and their true home as they carry the burden of their ancestor’s traumas and face adversity at every turn. 

I’ve been to all those courses, cuz, I’ve sat in every room that they’ve told me to sit in, I’ve gone to every clinic there is to fix my life—but you know what every piece-of-shit administrator or social worker or pig really wants? They want to find a reason to take the kids away and raise them in perfect little white houses and leave me to die for the sin of bringing them into the world.

●  Poorhara is an exploration of how traditional and modern Māori experiences, expectations and values combine and clash in a white world – from journeys, lineages and identity, to societal outcomes and racism.

The journey the cousins are undertaking encompass and experience all of these aspects in what is quite an Odyssessian journey but with “a Maaui vibe”. It incudes myths, beautiful New Zealand landscapes and the use of all three official NZ languages. 

Star mentions how love stories are never about the poor. And while not a love story, Poorhara is a literary, poetic and intelligent piece of work that features people poor financially but rich spiritually, and I really valued that tapestry of contemplation. – Rachel

Published 2024
Te Herenga Waka University Press
336 pages