Matariki Bennett Releases Her Debut Collection Of Poetry 'e Kō, Nō Hea Koe'

May 7, 2025: Matariki Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Hinerangi) is a 22 year old award-winning Slam Poet and Filmmaker.

She is a founding member of Ngā Hinepūkōrero, a bilingual Slam Poetry Collective, who in 2021, were honoured with the Creative New Zealand Ngā Manu Pirere Award, recognising outstanding emerging Māori artists. In 2023, Matariki was the Wellington Poetry Slam Champion. Her work has been on display in collaborative exhibitions with her sister, Māhina and brother, Tīhema at Corban's Estate and at the Caretaker Cottage in Tāmaki Makaurau. Most notably, the film she co-wrote and co-directed, 'Te Kohu' (2022)' was nominated for 3 awards at the NZ Film and Television awards, and her short documentary, 'Wind, Song and Rain (2022)' screened at ImagineNative in Toronto.

Today Matariki releases 'e kō, nō hea koe,' her debut collection of poetry, published by Dead Bird Books.

e ko, no hea koe is a series of goodbyes and attempts to slow the shedding, it's a group of teenagers sparking up as they watch the pacific garbage patch catapult into space and become a second moon, it's endless conversations with Grandmama about stars, it is the constant rebirth of whakapapa and learning that silence isn’t the best part of her.

Matariki Bennett shares “This collection of poetry was born years ago in my friend's garage. In the poem 'rothmans and rockstars' I say, 'riot police for a group of teenagers, performing kapahaka and stolen poetry' which is exactly what happened - we dreamed of the kind of books we'd write late into the night, riffing poems we'd perform at the next open mic against a backdrop of Polyfest / Matatini brackets (the riot police only showed up once!). On one of these nights, e kō, nō hea koe was a line my friend, Manaia shared. I wrote it in my notes and kept coming back to it each time I started a poem. I wanted to understand the identity markers we use and why they make up such a huge part of human interaction. I guess I was just trying to suss out who I was. So, that was the initial intent of writing this book.”

“Throughout this process, I was able to delve deep into my whakapapa on all sides - meeting whanaunga in photographs, story and memory. From this, I found many answers to the question I posed at the outset of the book 'ko koe te whakatinanatanga,' ō te katoa, te tūāuriuri, te hae o te ata, ō pakiaka tipu whakararo ai, ko ia kei raro iho, ka kore koe e ngaro.'”

Matariki & Dead Bird Books will celebrate the release of e ko, no hea koe tonight at the Tim Melville Gallery from 6PM.

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