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Hemi Kelly
Photo Credit: © Hemi Kelly


Hemi Kelly is of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Tahu-Ngāti Whaoa descent. He started learning te reo Māori as a young teenager and naturally progressed into teaching roles after study. Hemi is a full-time lecturer in te reo Māori at the Auckland University of Technology. His academic research and writing focus largely on the revitalisation of the Māori language and translation studies.

Hemi is a licensed translator and graduate of Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo (The Institute of Excellence in the Maori Language). In 2017, Hemi translated Witi Ihimaera’s novella in Sleeps Standing and published his first book A Māori Word a Day in 2018. In 2019, Hemi published his first creative writing piece in English in Purakau, a collection of Māori myths retold by Māori writers.

Books by Hemi Kelly

A Māori Phrase a Day

A modern, user-friendly phrasebook for all New Zealanders.

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A Maori Word a Day

An incredibly simple, fun and practical Maori dictionary for all New Zealanders.

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Sleeps Standing

A little book containing so much: a novella, history, eyewitness reports, Maori translation, verse and images.

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More features

Article
Looking for ways into Witi Ihimaera's works?

Writing about the Māori world, both rural and urban, often knocking into the Pākehā status quo, Witi Ihimaera’s writing has always offered a broader view of what New Zealand literature could be – should be – about.

Article
Learn phrases for meeting and greeting with A Māori Phrase A Day

Learn how to greet people in te Reo Māori with these handy phrases

Article
Two way communication

The special meaning behind the cover of Hemi Kelly's A Maori Word A Day.