Book Launch: Puke by essa may ranapiri

Unity Books Wellington celebrates the launch of Puke, the extraordinary new work from poet essa may ranapiri. The evening will be launched by Jasmine Sargent, with poets Ruby Solly and Midden Rahurahu presenting work written in response to the book. Described as a takataapui verse epic, Puke brings atua into a contemporary world of desire, precarity and everyday life. At its centre are Hinenuitepo and Hinemoana, who first encounter one another a million years ago amid a volcanic eruption. When their paths cross again, the setting is considerably more ordinary: a liquor store. What follows is an unconventional love story. Death and the Sea become entwined in the familiar rituals and complications of mortal existence, falling in love, eating hot chips, facing evictions, welcoming a new puppy and navigating intimacy - while continuing to carry the responsibilities of being atua. But something is wrong. A mysterious sickness is growing within them, other atua are disappearing and the world around them is beginning to fail. Moving between the perspectives of its two lovers, Puke draws together puuraakau, queer desire, humour, mythology and environmental unease to explore questions of decay, survival and decolonisation. Puke is ranapiri’s third book, following ransack and ECHIDNA, both longlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. A poet, writer and academic, ranapiri received the Janet Frame Poetry Award and inaugural Keri Hulme Award in 2023 and is the 2026 Randell Cottage Writer-in-Residence.