2025 Tuwhare Poetry Series: Laying Siege to Lips with Apirana Taylor

THE 2025 TUWHARE POETRY SERIES: …took its name from one of Hone’s qui­et res­o­nant lines …it won’t be a lone­ly walk. A phrase that car­ries the promise of walk­ing togeth­er in sol­i­dar­i­ty, evok­ing a spir­it of col­lec­tive courage, endur­ing strength and hope. This year we brought togeth­er poets whose work con­fronts, con­soles and con­nects – their words joined a long line of voic­es remind­ing us that poet­ry has nev­er been just about words on the page – it’s also about peo­ple join­ing voic­es and walk­ing togeth­er. The Tuwhare Poet­ry Series invites com­mu­ni­ty to walk togeth­er, lis­ten, speak, remem­ber, because it won’t be a lone­ly walk; not now, not ever. 

The first ses­sion of the Tuwhare Series was Lay­ing Siege To Lips — Api­rana Tay­lor a poet and per­former at the height of his pow­ers was a very spe­cial expe­ri­ence to wit­ness. Api­rana took us on a rare poet­ry ret­ro­spec­tive, and he had the room gripped in his sto­ry­telling prowess. He shape-shift­ed before us using his flute to return each time a seer, a rag­ing street kid, a war­rior dis­pos­sessed of reo and when­ua, a prophet hand­ing out med­i­ta­tion, haka and haiku. Strength and love in equal bal­ance, he took our hearts and minds out into the uni­verse and then back into the venue. He fin­ished qui­et­ly. We were awe struck, we stood, a stand­ing ova­tion. For­tu­nate­ly, Vic­tor Rodger as chair, an expert in the jour­ney of per­for­mance, com­mand­ed there would be no ques­tions, we all need­ed time to sit, hold space, be in con­ver­sa­tion. The last few min­utes were a balm, a time to return to the world of the liv­ing. Api­rana told us he met Hone Tuwhare as a boy, ask­ing his father, ‘who is that man in the lounge?’ A prophet in pass­ing. And who stood before us last week­end? The echo, the answer, the whaka­pa­pa of poet­ry in Aotearoa.

Beau­ti­ful.