Manuhiri – the many guises of the guest

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Celebrated author Dr Rachel Buchanan (Taranaki iwi Te Ātiawa, Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) gives an illustrated lecture on the subject of manuhiri, the focus of her current research as the 2025 Judith Binney Fellow.

Through archival and documentary images, Dr Buchanan discusses the shifting roles and guises of visitors and guests in three interconnected places – Pōneke Wellington, Taranaki and Te Ao Moemoeā Australia. Her lecture will explore the theme and impact of manuhiri, the fleeting or long-term visitors—welcome or not—that uplift, overturn, challenge and transform the lives of individuals and communities. Dr Buchanan’s most recent book Te Motunui Epa, was a co-winner of the Ernest Scott and W H Oliver prizes. A Q&A will follow the lecture, chaired by Paul Diamond (Ngāti Hauā, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi).

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About

Dr Rachel Buchanan (Taranaki iwi, Te Ātiawa, Taranaki Whaanui ki te Upoko o Te Ika) is a historian, journalist and a member of Te Aro Pā Poets collective and Te Pouhere Kōrero Māori Historians Network. She is the author of The Parihaka Album: Lest We Forget (Huia, 2009), Stop Press: The Last Days of Newspapers (Scribe, 2013) and Ko Taranaki Te Maunga (Bridget Williams Books, 2018). Her pukapuka Te Motunui Epa (Bridget Williams Books, 2022) was the co-winner of the 2023 W.H. Oliver Prize, co-winner of the 2023 Ernest Scott Prize and shortlisted for the 2023 Ockham NZ Book Awards – Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction. Her impressive career as a writer, gained her a position as one of three finalists in the inaugural Keri Hulme Award at the 2023 Pikihuia Awards. Dr Buchanan has just been awarded the 2025 Judith Binney Fellowship. The Fellowship will allow her to take at least 12 months away from paid employment and to focus, completely, on writing, thinking and research in Aotearoa and in Te Ao Moemoea (Australia).