Witi Ihimaera Photo: Andi Crown © Penguin Books

PUBLISHED: June 26, 2023
UPDATED: July 4, 2023
 

Keynote speakers

Press invitation: Conference shines spotlight on New Zealand and the Pacific Region

The conference has 59 speakers from 27 countries across five continents, with 8 keynote speakers including acclaimed Maori writer Witi Ihimaera (author of "The Whale Rider"), Hollywood-based Maori actress Rena Owen ("Once Were Warriors", "Whina" and "The Dead Lands"), Professor Nicholas Thomas, Director of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, and Professor Craig Santos Perez, University of Hawaii, Mānoa.

Ambassador David Taylor opened the conference "Between Nations/Across Seas" on Monday 26 June 2023. Photo: New Zealand Embassy to Sweden

Just three weeks ago, Witi Ihimaera released his latest book, a commemorative edition of his award-winning debut novel, "Tangi". As the first novel written by a Maori author, it stands as a significant milestone in postcolonial literature and Maori studies.

"The 50th anniversary edition of this award-winning debut novel"

"Between Nations/Across Seas" marks the 27th annual conference organized by the New Zealand Studies Association (NZSA), this time in collaboration with Stockholm University and the University of Turku in Åbo, Finland – with professor Ian Conrich, Department of Media Studies, as head of the event. A selection of papers from the conference will be published in the Scopus-indexed Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies, published by Intellect.

Professor and organizer Ian Conrich speaking during the conference. Photo: Ambassador David Taylor, NZ Embassy Sweden © July 2023

Date: June 26 – 30, 2023 
Venue: The Film House/Stockholm University, and the University of Turku in Åbo. 
Learn more

Witi Ihimaera

Three-time winner of the Wattie/Montana Book of the Year award, Katherine Mansfield fellow and playwright Witi Ihimaera is one of New Zealand’s most prolific and accomplished writers. Witi’s first novel, Tangi, won the Wattie Book of the Year Award in 1974, a feat he repeated with The Matriarch in 1986. His celebrated novel Bulibasha, King of the Gypsies, now adapted as the film Mahana, won the Montana Book of the Year award in 1995. Witi’s other novels and short story collections include The Whale Rider (also adapted as an internationally successful film); Dream Swimmer (sequel to the award-winning The Matriarch); Pounamu, Pounamu and Nights In The Gardens of Spain. In 2015 he published the first volume of his autobiography, Maori Boy.
(Source: Penguin Books)

STOCKHOLM, June 26, 2023. Professor and organizer Ian Conrich during the first day of the conference. Photo: Henrik Schröder © Stockholm University

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