TheHone Tuwhare Charitable Trust

Hone Tuwhare is the people’s poet – he was loved and cherished by New Zealanders from all walks of life. Touring tirelessly, Hone shared his talent and inspired audiences in every corner of the country from primary and secondary schools to universities, factories to art galleries and prisons.

Born in 1922 in the small settlement of Kokewai, just south of Kaikohe, Hone spent much of his childhood in Auckland with his father Ben, a builder, living an itinerant life – his mother Mihipaea died when he was five. Hone started work at the Otahuhu railway yards becoming a boilermaker – he became a trade unionist and then a member of the Communist Party. He remained passionate about human rights for the rest of his life.

Too young to fight in Europe in World War II, Hone served 12 months in Japan as part of the post-war occupation force – a thought provoking year after 2 nuclear bombs.

Hone Tuwhare is widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s most accomplished and treasured poets.

The Hone Tuwhare Charitable Trust was established to purchase and restore Hone Tuwhare’s crib, develop resources for schools and initiate events throughout Aotearoa that celebrate Hone and his contribution to the Arts. In 2003, Hone was awarded one of the three inaugural Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement.

Takutai became involved with the HTCT through the purchase of the crib.