The Whanganui Literary Festival Trust is delighted to announce that Dame Anne Salmond will be taking part in this year’s festival at the end of September. She is well known as an engaging and knowledgeable speaker. As anthropologist, environmentalist and author, much of Dame Anne’s academic research has been in early Māori history.
This interest was sparked when as a teenager visiting the United States, she was asked to talk about New Zealand, and realised she did not know much about the Māori in New Zealand. After gaining an MA in anthropology at the University of Auckland, she studied at the University of Pennsylvania where she gained a PhD with a thesis entitled Hui — a Study of Māori ceremonial gatherings. This interest perhaps came as no surprise to her family: her great-grandfather, James McDonald, was a filmmaker and photographer who worked closely with Māori leaders such as Sir Peter Buck and Apirana Ngata.
Since those early days, Dame Anne’s career has flourished. She is a Distinguished Professor of Māori Studies at the University of Auckland, and has many books to her name. She has been the recipient of numerous literary awards, prizes and academic awards. She became a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1995 and received the Order of New Zealand (ONZ) in 2021. Dame Anne was chosen as New Zealander of the Year in 2013.
Among her many works are the award-winning Trial of the Cannibal Dog: Captain Cook in the South Seas, Aphrodites Island: European Discovery of Tahiti, and more recently an award-winning epic Between Worlds, the history of the first European settlers in New Zealand and their relationship with Māori. She has also presented a six-part history series, Artefact, which screened on Māori Television.
