This Compulsion In Us

A powerful exploration of identity, history, and the transformative power of storytelling from a prizewinning Maori author.

In her first book of nonfiction, Tina Makereti writes from her intersecting lives as a wahine Maori – teacher, daughter, traveller, parent – and into a past that is as alive as the present. Makereti pays attention to tohu, seeking home with her tupuna, meeting taonga in museums, and writing towards her father.

These essays explore the wahine who have shown her ways of being Maori, the pain and humor of living with alcoholism, the potential of art to empower survivors of colonialism. What if we could transform the events that made us? What if there were a way back to the beginning? This collection is for readers of Indigenous literature, New Zealand history, and anyone seeking connection through personal essays.