“Ma tenei mea, ma te kanorau, e hua mai ai tetahi whariki rangatira tonu. Ka rereke pea nga tae o ona weu me ona aho, engari he mana orite to tena me tena.”

— He whakamaoritanga i a Maya Angelou kupu i Rainbow in the Cloud, 2014

Kua haurua rautau te roa o Maya Angelou e whakarakei ana i te ao ki ana kupu me ona whakaaro, i hua mai ai ko te huhua o ana titonga kanorau, pukapuka mai, tuhingaroa mai, whakaari mai, ruri mai. I runga ano i te whariki o tana ao toi, kua tuituia nga kupu whakatuma, ki te kaikiri, ki te tohe, ki te whai ora, ki nga wheako hoki o te wahine me te kirimangu, ma roto i tona reo ahurei.

Kua huia nga ruri ki nga wahanga e whitu e hangai ana ki te ao tonu o Maya, e whai panga ana ano hoki ki a ngai Maori: te whanaungatanga, te mate kanehe, te oke o te ia ra, te kirimangu, te whakatorea, te rere o te wa me te whakaao maramatanga.

I te pukapuka nei rere ai ko te reo o te kahui wahine o Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo, me ona kanorautanga. Kuia mai, mama mai, rangatahi mai, teina mai, tuakana mai, he wahine kua rongo, kua kite i te ihi o te whai reo, me te wehi o te reokoretanga.

Ka titi tonu nga kupu a te maia ki te ngakau o te hunga e aritarita ana ki te reo Maori i tenei huinga ruri ana.

Through her illustrious career, African American poet and civil rights leader Maya Angelou has gifted, healed and inspired the world with her words. In this pukapuka, the beauty and wairua of her poems are translated into te reo Maori by a cohort of female graduates from Te Panekiretanga o te Reo, the Institute of Excellence in the Maori Language.

This collection of ruri/poems will warm the hearts of Maya Angelou’s most ardent admirers and will also introduce new readers to the legendary poet, activist and teacher. Presented with English and Maori on facing pages, as well as poetic biographies of each translator, this book is a taonga that welcomes a literary icon to Aotearoa.