NZ's 'best-loved' poet dies

He had been ill for some time and died in Dunedin yesterday, aged 85.

His first volume of poems, No Ordinary Sun, hit bookshelves in 1964.

It marked him not only as a working- class poet - he was a boilermaker before dedicating himself to poetry - but it was also the first book of poetry by a Maori writer in English.

Now in its 10th impression, it remains one of the most widely read collections of poetry in New Zealand literary history.

The collection also signalled Tuwhare's intense and lasting interest in political issues as subject material.

No Ordinary Sun was a passionate cry against nuclear weapons, written in response to the atomic bomb destruction of Hiroshima in 1945.

Other collections followed, as well as plays. Poetry collections included Mihi (1987), Short Back and Sideways (1992), Deep River Talk (1993), Shape-Shifter (1997), and Piggy-Back Moon (2002).

Artist friend Ralph Hotere illustrated four of Tuwhare's volumes of poetry.

Poet Bill Manhire said Tuwhare's work stemmed from "extraordinary lyrical gifts, powerful political convictions, and a wonderful sense of mischief. All of these things made for one of the most distinctive voices we are ever likely to hear".

Friend and publisher Roger Steele said the energy of Tuwhare's "gutsy lusty" work was hugely popular.

"He is often called New Zealand's best-loved poet and that's absolutely true," Mr Steele said. "He was a tribute to the restorative effects of mussels, mutton-birds, wine and women."

Tuwhare was writing till the day he died, said long-time friends and neighbours Glennis and Norman Woods, who looked after him in recent years.

"We weren't his caregivers, we were his mates," Mrs Woods said.

The couple went to see him yesterday in Dunedin and he was still scribbling poetry.

"He kissed my hand and said, `I'm tired, I'm going to sleep'. When we got home there was a call from the hospital saying he had died, so we were very upset."

Tuwhare was born near Kaikohe, Northland, in October 1922.

At 15, having never attended secondary school, he became an apprentice boilermaker at the Auckland Railway Workshops.

He wrote poems on the sides of railway wagons and scribbled them behind a welding shield.

In the years leading to his death he lived in a bach at the seaside township of Kaka Pt in South Otago.

He told a reporter in 1998 that he would like a "quiet leaving" when he died.

"I'd like to be burnt - not wanting to be buried in my own tribal grounds - scatter ash in the harbours. Kaka Pt, Dunedin, Wellington, Auckland, Hokianga. I'm not concerned about Maori protocol ... I would like some say in leaving the world."

Younger artists such as Don McGlashan and Whirimako Black paid tribute to him by putting music to 11 of his works in a 2006 show called Tuwhare.

Tuwhare was a Burns Fellow at Otago University in 1969, and held honorary doctorates from Otago and Auckland universities. In 1999 he was named New Zealand's second Te Mata Poet Laureate.

In 2003 he was awarded one of the inaugural Prime Minister's Awards for literary achievement for poetry.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Helen Clark said Tuwhare had made an outstanding contribution to New Zealand literature.

"Hone Tuwhare was a distinguished poet, playwright, and writer of short fiction. His poetry contained powerful imagery of our land, sea, and legends, and often expressed strong views on contemporary issues." Miss Clark said.

It is understood that Tuwhare is survived by three sons and many grandchildren.

His tangi will be held in Kaikohe. A service is also planned for Dunedin.

- © Fairfax NZ News