Listen: Witi Ihimaera Smiler's return to the world of The Whale Rider

01 October 2026 First published RNZ

Almost thirty years after the publication of The Whale Rider Witi Ihimaera Smiler's latest novel tells a new story full of epic voyaging, the connection between humans, whales, and the spiritual world, indigenous knowledge and humour. 

The Star Path starts with 16-year-old Teva, living in France with his parents, but estranged from his father's people who hail from Rurutu - in French Polynesia - an island 600 kilometres south of Tahiti. 

At the same time a pod of baleen whales, lead by the gigantic and centuries-old Metura'a is at risk - as the ailing leader showing signs of dementia keeps the pod exploring dangerous parts of Antarctica and showing no signs of leading the pod back home for the winter, to safety. 

The only one he might listen to, is the whale rider. 

The story takes readers on a voyage from France, to Rurutu, to Whangara on the East Coast to Antarctica, and all the way back again. 

Witi Ihimaera Smiler is a prolific and accomplished New Zealand author whose work centres on Māori culture and values. He has published more than forty works for adults and children, and also written for stage and screen.

He spoke with RNZ's Kathryn Ryan on Nine to Noon.