Hemi Kelly

Hemi Kelly is of Ngati Maniapoto and Ngati Tahu-Ngati Whaoa descent. He started learning te reo Maori as a young teenager and naturally progressed into teaching roles after study. Hemi is a full-time lecturer in te reo Maori at the Auckland University of Technology. His academic research and writing focus largely on the revitalsation of the Maori 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 Maori Word a Day in 2018. In 2019, Hemi published his first creative writing piece in English in Purakau, a collection of Maori myths retold by Maori writers.

Books by Hemi Kelly

A Māori Phrase a Day

Hemi Kelly

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

A Maori Word a Day

Hemi Kelly

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

Sleeps Standing

Witi Ihimaera, Hemi Kelly

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

Related features

Article

Two way communication

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

Article

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. But with numerous short stories, novels, libretti, plays, memoirs – well over 20 books, plus many more he has edited or contributed to – where do you begin? Following is a sampling from our Fiction Publisher, Harriet Allan.