Review
Book Review: Wordplay: Capturing the intricate traits of Maori culture [Te Whiu, Anne-Marie, Mettle. University of Queensland Press, 2025]
InReview, Vol.14 May 2025
2025
Abstract
Maori Australian poet Anne-Marie Te Whiu’s debut collection deftly weaves themes of Maori culture and language, home and family, identity and displacement. I read this collection straight through, deeply drawn to these poems of trauma and resilience explored through fresh, eye-opening experimental poetics.
The titles of the six sections of the book are adjectives that describe different aspects of the poet’s life/self/experience – Platinum, Fractured, Malleable, Lustrous, Mercurial and Reflective. The collection is dedicated, “For my younger self” — always the poet is looking back at her experience and everything she, her family and her whakapapa (Maori lineage) have survived.
Details
- Title
- Book Review: Wordplay: Capturing the intricate traits of Maori culture [Te Whiu, Anne-Marie, Mettle. University of Queensland Press, 2025]
- Authors
- Frank Jane - University of the Sunshine Coast
- Publication details
- InReview, Vol.14 May 2025
- Publisher
- InReview
- Date published
- 2025
- Organisation Unit
- School of Business and Creative Industries
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991258952602621
- Output Type
- Review
Metrics
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