essa may ranapiri

essa may ranapiri (born 1993 or 1994) is a New Zealand poet and visual artist. Their first collection of poetry, Ransack (2019), was longlisted for the 2020 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.[2] Their second collection, Echidna, was published in 2022.

essa may ranapiri
Born1993 or 1994 (age 29–30)[1]
OccupationPoet, visual artist
EducationMA (creative writing), Victoria University of Wellington (2018)
Notable works
  • Ransack (2019)
  • Echidna (2022)
Website
essawrites.wordpress.com

Poetry

Ranapiri's first collection, Ransack, was positively reviewed by Jay Nieuwland for its embrace of queer complexity: "Not all poetry lovers will appreciate this collection. Some might find it too dense, experimental, chaotic, demanding. From my perspective it’s those exact qualities that make this work vital."[3] Ranapiri identifies as takatāpui, and has said that this helps them feel comfortable in their Māori identity and to use Māori language in their poetry.[4] They are of Ngāti Raukawa, Te Arawa and Ngāti Pūkeko descent and also have Scottish and English ancestry.[5]

The poems in Echidna interpret the myth of Echidna, mother of monsters in Greek myth now living in a colonised world with other deities.[6] Paula Green described it as "a weave of [essa's] own self, vulnerabilities, fears, dreams, experiences. As a weaving of contemporary spaces, mythological and cultural inheritances, and above all the wounding slam of colonialism."[7] Ash Davida Jane for The Spinoff called it a stand-out of 2022 and an "amorphous collection of mythologies and queer brilliance".[8]

In July 2022, a review of Echidna by Nicholas Reid, published in the New Zealand Listener and in longer form on his personal blog, was criticised by poet Lily Holloway as transphobic and a "deliberately harmful display of ignorance". Holloway opened a petition calling for Reid to be prevented from reviewing any further works by queer writers for the Listener, which attracted over 400 signatures.[9] Critic Steve Braunias called Reid's review "a stupid piece of writing, mainly concerned with the poet's gender and identity".[9] In response, one of the editors of the Listener confirmed that Reid would not be used to review works by LGBTQIA+ authors in the future.[9] The Spinoff published a series of tributes to ranapiri in response to the controversy, with contributions from Hinemoana Baker, Chris Tse and other New Zealand writers.[10]

Visual art

Ranapiri exhibited paintings at the Queer Algorithms show at the Gus Fisher Gallery in 2019.[11] They described the work as the result of trying to free themself from "the loaded meaning of language that is always present in poetry", while using the colours representing tino rangatiratanga.[12]

Other work

Ranapiri's work has appeared in Out Here: An Anthology of Takatāpui and LGBTQIA+ Writers from Aotearoa, The Spinoff, Starling, Landfall, Ōrongohau: Best New Zealand Poems, Sport and other publications.[13] They have appeared at Verb Wellington, WORD Christchurch, and Auckland Writers Festival, and have created several solo and collaborative zines.[14][15][16][17]

References
  1. Thompson-Browne, Trinity (5 May 2022). "Story sovereignty: Māori taking back control of our narratives". The Spinoff. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  2. "2020 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards - longlist announced". NZ Book Awards. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  3. "All The Knowledge We Need to Survive: A Review of ransack". Pantograph Punch. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  4. McCallum, Hanna (16 September 2022). "What it means to identify as takatāpui today". Stuff. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  5. ranapiri, essa may (17 May 2023). "Essa Ranapiri and Joshua Whitehead: a kōrero of Indigiqueer proportions". The Spinoff. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  6. "Poet interview: essa may ranapiri". Wellington City Libraries. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  7. "Poetry Shelf review: essa may ranapiri's Echidna". NZ Poetry Shelf. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  8. Jane, Ash Davida (11 July 2022). "Unprecedented: New Zealanders are buying large amounts of local poetry". The Spinoff. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  9. Braunias, Steve (21 July 2022). "Cancelling a 'transphobic' critic". Newsroom. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  10. "Aroha for essa". The Spinoff. 24 July 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  11. "Queer Algorithms". Gus Fisher Gallery. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  12. "Artist Spotlight: essa may ranapiri". Gus Fisher Gallery. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  13. "Poetry". essa writes. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  14. "essa may ranapiri". Verb Wellington. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  15. "essa may ranapiri". Word Christchurch. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  16. "essa may ranapiri". Auckland Writers Festival. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  17. "Publications". essa writes. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
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