Renowned NZ poet and children's author Robert Sullivan’s poem 'Kawe Reo/Voices Carry' is engraved on the new steps on Lorne Street just outside Central City Library. The steps were officially opened on 31 August, 2011.
The poem
Voices Carry / Kawe Reo
Voice carries us from the foot of Rangipuke / Sky Hill / Albert Park to the Wai Horotiu stream chuckling down Queen
Street carrying a hii-haa-hii story—from prams and seats with names and rhymes, words from books and kitchen tables.
Now we laugh again in the St James stalls, in the bookstores, Seddon Tech, Paterson’s Stables, Odd Fellows Hall,
art galleries and our great Library gifted by our people who saved the words of our ancestors for one and all…
Kawe Reo / Voices Carry
Mai i ngā rekereke o Rangipuke ki Wai Horotiu e rere atu nei i raro o te tiriti o Kuini e rongohia nei ngā kōrero pakiwaitara hii – haa – hii. He waka haringa peepi, he tūru nohonga tangata e tau ai ngā kōrero whiti – tangi ōrite, mai i ngā pukapuka ki ngā teepu kai.
Ka kata ano tatou i roto i ngā nohonga rārangi o Hato Heemi, ngā toa pukapuka, ngā Whare Takiura o Seddon, ngā herenga hoiho o Paterson, ki te whare hui, whare pupuri taonga, whare toi o Odd Fellows, me tenei whare whakahirahira, to tatou Whare Mātauranga, te takoha i tukua mai nei e to tatou Iwi, nga kaitiaki o ngā kupu, o te reo hei painga mo te katoa.
About the poem
The poem, Kawe Reo, celebrates the relationship between Auckland Libraries, the city and its people. Reo can mean ‘the Maori language’ and also ‘voice’. Kawe means ‘to carry.’
"The poem stands for the many voices within the library. I wrote Kawe Reo with echoes of nursery rhyme and waiata and used historical information about the library’s place near Horotiu stream and Lorne Street. So many of us owe the breadth of our imaginations to storytime and children’s collections at the local library. Reo can mean ‘the Maori language’ and also ‘voice’. Voice is part of the library’s ethos which contains information in a wide variety of formats. I also like the fact that reo or voice contains the idea of breath and life-force. The poem stands on its own and also in relationship to Reo."
- Robert Sullivan
About the poet
As a significant NZ poet (Ngapuhi, Kai Tahu) and former Auckland central city librarian, Sullivan was the obvious choice to undertake a commissioned piece of poetry to reflect the area’s vibrant history.
Sullivan has had seven poetry collections published and won several New Zealand awards for his children’s writing and editing. He was a poetry finalist in this year’s New Zealand Post Book Awards for editing Mauri Ola, the follow-up anthology to the successful Whetu Moana: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English.
He is currently head of the Manukau Institute of Technology’s new School of Creative Writing.
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