Best-selling author Dr Hinemoa Elder will waananga with award-winning Waikato poet Dr Marama Salsano about the intersection between culture, creativity and mental health.
Exploring the importance of indigenous narratives around wellbeing and resilience, Hinemoa’s Ara: A Māori Guidebook of the Mind is rooted in the wisdom of Maaori culture.
This session is for everyone seeking clarity amid the chaos of modern life.
🗓 Sat 21 Feb 2026, 3:00pm–4:00pm
📍 Indian Char Bagh Garden, Hamilton Gardens
Presented as part of HamLit26, Hamilton Arts Festival Toi Ora ki KIrikiriroa, with thanks to Hamilton City Council, Creative Communities Scheme and Poppies Book Store.
Seating provided
Dr Hinemoa Elder MNZM
Dr Hinemoa Elder (Te Rarawa, Ngāi Takoto and Ngāpuhi nui tonu) is the author of New Zealand’s best-selling local non-fiction book of 2021, Aroha - Māori Wisdom for a Contented Life Lived in Harmony with Our Planet. Her previous books, Aroha, Wawata and Waitohu have also been bestsellers. In 2019 she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit,for services to psychiatry and Māori.
Dr Marama Salsano
Dr Marama Salsano is a Kirikiriroa-based writer-scholar, editor, and multidisciplinary artist of Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Ngāti Porou, and Ngāti Wairere descent. As a Kairangahau Matua, Marama researches at the intersection of Māori and Indigenous Literary Studies, creative writing, and toi Māori; her critical and creative work has been published nationally and internationally in various anthologies and journals.
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