Hone Tuwhare’s first poetry book, No Ordinary Sun turned 60 last year. It was the first single-author poetry collection by a Maori author. This significant milestone for Aotearoa’s literary landscape passed largely unnoticed.
Thank you to Jordyn at Maori Literature Blog for this thoughtful post. Possibly the only person to fly a flag for the 60th anniversary of Hone’s debut 1964 collection of iconic poems.
Nga mihi ki a koe Jordyn. Read Jordyn’s online article at Maori Literarure Blog
Listen to Hone recite No Ordinary Sun.
Above image: Hone Tuwhare reading No Ordinary Sun — Reference: New Zealand Herald [250208NZHTUWHARE]
Below: Tuwhare, H. No Ordinary Sun. Auckland: Blackwood and Janet Paul, 1964. First edition.
There were the 9 print runs over 18 years of No Ordinary Sun that produced an array of stunning book covers by some of Aotearoa’s most notable artists, many of whom were whanau, friends and colleagues of Hone’s. This greyish-off-white and black 1964 first edition cover was designed by Warwick Bradshaw a friend of Hone’s from Whakatane and featured a print that represented the effect of an atomic bomb blast, viewed from out of space. (Janet Hunt, 1998)
