I whānau mai a Hone Peneamine Anatipa Te Pona Tuwhare i te 21 o Oketopa 1922 ki Kokewai, tētahi kāinga taiwhenua ki te tonga-mā-rāwhiti o Kaikohe, ki Te Tai Tokerau. Ko ōna tātai whakaheke nō Ngāpuhi, he hononga anō ōna ki a Ngāti Korokoro, ki a Ngāti Tautahi, ki Te Uri-o-Hau, ki Te Popoto, ki a Ngāti Hine me ngā hapū o Ngāti Kurī. Hei tama a Hone mā Peneamine (a Pene, a Ben rānei) Anatipa Te Pona Tuwhare rāua ko tana wahine a Mihipaea (Mihi) Maihi, ko Anihana i mua (Anderson), he tātai anō ōna ki Kotarangi me Te Popoto.
Ko Hone te tamaiti tū waenga o ētahi tamariki tokorima, ko ia nahenahe i ora kia kaumātua. Tokorua ana tuāhine kaumātua ake i a ia, he tuakana anō, mai te mārenatanga tuatahi a tōna whaea: ko Hoana Puarau Maihi, ko Mingo Puarau Maihi me Eruera Puarau Maihi.
E rima ngā tau o Hone i te matenga o tōna whaea. I ngā tau tōmuri o te 1920 me te 1930, noho pōhara ana rāua ko tana matua, huri takapau pōkai haere ana, i te takiwā ki Kaikohe i te tīmatanga, i muri iho i te takiwā ki Freemans Bay ki Tāmakimakaurau. I muri atu i tērā, ka noho rāua ki Avondale, ki Panmure me Māngere. E ai ki a Hone, 16 ana kāinga i mua i te ekenga ki te 13 tau. Nō ēnei tau mai te hononga o Hone ki te iwi ringa raupā me tana kohara nui ki ngā take e pā ana ki te noho taurite a te tangata.
I muri i te wehenga atu o Hone i te kāinga, ka mārena anō tana matua. Ka whāngaihia e rāua ko tana wahine tuarua a Mihikerei Renutai Uri Karaka Puhata o Ngāti Pāoa he tama mā rāua, a Tame Parata.
I motumotu te kuraina o Hone, ka mutu tana kura i muri i te pae tuaono (tau tuawaru), i te putanga ōna i tana whakamātautau matatau. Heoi, i mātau tonu ia ahakoa te kore e tino kuraina ōkawatia, nā te reorua o te whakatupu i a ia me tana ngākaunui ki te pānui pukapuka. I rumakina ia ki te reo Māori i tōna ohinga, i rongo i te reo e kōrerotia ana i tana kāinga, i ngā waiata me ngā whaikōrero i te marae. Ahakoa te memeha o tōna kaha ki te kōrero Māori i a ia ka kaumātua haere, i pūmau tonu ōna hononga ki tōna Māoritanga.
I kaingākautia hoki e ia te reo Ingarihi – mai i te kīwaha rere noa i ngā huarahi ki te kupu amaru o te Paipera a King James, i pānuitia e rāua ko tana matua. Ki a Tuwhare, ko te pānui te huarahi atu ki tētahi ao tūmatarau, ko tana kōrero i muri iho, ‘he āhua rite ki te ako ki te ai,’.1 Atu i te Paipera, he nui tonu te hunga i kawe i āna tuhinga, pērā i ngā pakimaero rongonui, i a Hakipia, te kaitito toikupu a Federico García Lorca, ngā kaituhi Marxist pērā i a Christopher Caudwell, me ngā tuhinga a nga hoa o taua wā o Aotearoa, ko ētahi ko Noel Hilliard, ko Bill Pearson, ko R. A. K. Mason me James K. Baxter.
I kirimanahia a Hone Tuwhare hei kaihanga paera ki a Rerewē Aotearoa atu i te 1939 ki te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, ka whakawhiwhia ki tana tiwhikete mahi i te tau 1944. Ka hono atu ia ki te Rōpū Communist o Aotearoa i te 1942. I muri i te pakanga, ka haere hōia atu ia ki Hapanihi i te Jayforce (te rōpū hōia o Aotearoa i noho ki te ope taua ki Hapanihi i muri o te pakanga) ka kite kanohi atu i te hoepapatia o Hiroshima.
Ka moe a Tuwhare i a Jean Agnes McCormack i te 13 o Hānuere 1949 ki Tāmakimakaurau. Ka hūnuku rāua ki Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara i muri tonu mai i tō rāua mārena. He kaimahi rerewē a Tuwhare, ka noho hei kaimahi mō tētahi wā poto ki te Tari Hauora, i kaha whai wāhi atu ia ki te Rōpū Communist o Aotearoa, me tana whakahoahoa ki ētahi atu kaikōkiri mana hapori me ētahi atu kaituhi. I whānau mai tā rāua tama mātāmua i te tau 1952. I te tau 1953 ka hūnuku te whānau ki Mangakino i te puku o Te Ika-a-Māui, i muri iho ki Te Māhoe i Te Moana-a-Toi, ka mahi a Tuwhare i ngā mahi pāpuni i reira. Kotahi tau i muri mai ka whānau mai ā rāua māhanga, he tama.
Ka tīmata te āta tuhi me te whakaputa tānga a Tuwhare i te tau 1956 i muri i tana whakarere i te Rōpū Communist ki te whakahē i te urutomohia o Hanekeria e Rūhia. I tana rihainatanga ka rongo i tana noho wātea, ‘ka kite iho au, e mara, he pai ki a au te tuhi me te whakatakoto i ōku whakaaro’.2 I tīmata tana whakamātau i te toikupu i a ia e rangatahi ana, i tana tuhi titonga ki te tioka ki ngā taha o ngā wākena rerewē. I tētahi wā ka whakaatu kopī atu i āna mahi ki tētahi hoa kaiuniana, kaitito toikupu, a R. A. K. Mason. Heoi, ka tohua e ia te rā tuhi o te toikupu i whakaaro ia ko tana titonga tino hira, ‘Thine own hands have fashioned’, ki te rā i mate ai tana matua i te tau 1957.
Ko te kohinga tuatahi a Tuwhare, No ordinary sun, i tāia i te tau 1964 e Blackwood rāua ko Janet Paul. He āhuaranga hira tonu tēnei, i ahu mai hoki i te kaituhi tauhou: he kaihanga paera Māori kīhai i haere ki te kura tuarua. Heoi, kua noho kē mai he apataki mā Tuwhare, kua puta kē hoki ētahi o ana toikupu maha ki ngā hautaka, ka hokona katoatia atu te 700 kape o te putanga i roto i te tekau rā. Ka hau te rongo o Tuwhare, ka kaha haere tana pānui i ana titonga i ngā hui pānui tuhinga, i ngā hui taumata me ngā taiopenga.
I orua atu, me te whai painga hoki o te hau o tōna rongo ki te oraora haere o te aru a ngāi Māori i te mana motuhake. I whakamihia tēnei e Mason i te kupu takamua o No ordinary sun: ‘Kei konei – ka mutu, ki taku mōhio ko te tuatahi tēnei – ko tētahi o te iwi Māori kua kīia he kaitito toikupu ki te reo Ingarihi me te reo anō o tōna ake whakatupuranga, engari e ahu mai ana tōna kaha nui i tōna ake iwi’.3 Ka noho te kohinga hei tānga hautupua, e toru ngā whakaputanga, 12 ngā tāruatanga i roto i te toru ngahurutanga tau.
He wairua Romantic tō No ordinary sun, he whakatautau te taera. Ko te papā mai o te toikupu whakahē pūngao karihi nō reira mai te taitara o te pukapuka, me te tangi taukuri o te ‘O Africa’ e whakahē nei i te whakatāuke tangata, kei te noho tahi mai ki te hokinga o mahara ki te ohinga, ki te waiata aroha, ki te apakura me te mōteatea. Ko te takotoranga whenua kua pūrākautia, kua whakatangatahia nei, ka noho reo matua mai. Kīhai i ngaro i te reo o Tuwhare i āna kohinga o muri mai, tana pai ki te rere wahapū o te whaikōrero, engari i whakanikongia ki te kupu a te ngutu atamai, ki te mahi whakareka, ki te karihika, ki te kupu i titoa me te noho taupatupatu mai o ētahi mea e rua, e kata ai te niho. Ka nui te whakawhitihia o ana toikupu ki reo kē me te whakaurua atu ki kohinga toikupu kē.
I te tau 1964 ka neke a Tuwhare me tana whānau ki Birkenhead i Takapuna, Tāmakimakaurau, ka whiwhi mahi a Tuwhare ki te Papa Taua Moana o Devonport, ka mahi i te awatea me te tuhi i te ahiahi. Ka kaha kē atu te kumea ōna ki ngā huihuinga mātākōrero – te hui pānui, te tū ki tētahi huihuinga whakahē i te Pakanga o Vietnam i te taha o te reo mōteatea o Amerika a Pete Seeger, ki ngā hui o te whakahaere kaituhi PEN, me ngā haerenga ki te pāparakāuta. Ko Tuwhare tētahi o ngā mema whakatū i te Komiti Māori o Birkenhead, he mema anō ia i kōwhiria mō te Kaunihera Taone o Birkenhead mō tētahi wā poto. Ka tuhi tonu ia, i ōna wā ka kōrerohia atu ana toikupu i te waea kia tuhia mai e Janet Paul.
I te tau 1969 ka whakawhiwhia a Tuwhare ki te tūranga paewai Robert Burns i te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou i Ōtepoti. I manaakitia ia e te rohe, ka noho hei papa noho mōna mō te toenga atu o ōna rā. Ka noho hoa rāua ko te ringatoi a Ralph Hōtere, nāna nei i tuhi whakaahua ki ētahi o ana pukapuka maha tonu.
Ka whai ko te rua tau e mahi ana ki Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, kāhore te whānau i haere, ka mutu, i te tau 1972 ka mahue a Tuwhare rāua ko tana wahine, a Jean; ka mahue tūturu rāua i te 18 o Oketopa 1976. I muri iho ka noho tahi ia ki ētahi wāhine maha tonu, ko ētahi ko Eve Davy, ko Yvonne de Langre me Shirley Grace. I arohatia, i tautokona hoki ia e ngā kiritata.
I ngā ngahurutanga tau o muri iho ka whai wāhi oranga a Tuwhare i te takuhe, i te tūranga paewai me te pānui haere i ngā kura. Ka haere hei kaituhi ki Hawaii, ki Haina, ki Papua New Guinea, ki Āwherika ki te Tonga, ki Ahitereiria me Tiamani. He mema ia o ngā Tāpoinga a te Kaunihera Toi a Ngāi Tauira i te tau 1975 me te 1979, i pau katoa atu ngā tīkiti te hoko, ka whakahaeretia e ia te hui taumata tuatahi a ngā kaituhi me ngā ringatoi Māori i tū ki Te Kaha i Te Moana-a-Toi i te tau 1973. I whai wāhi atu anō ia ki te hīkoi mō te whenua Māori o te tau 1975, i hīkoi nei i te mata o te whenua o Te Ika-a-Māui mai i Te Rēinga ki te Pāremata i Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara, me te hīkoi o te tau 1984, i rapu nei kia arohia atu ngā mamaetanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi.
I muri o te No ordinary sun, 12 atu anō āna kohinga toikupu: Come rain hail (1970), Sap-wood and milk (1972), Something nothing (1974), Making a fist of it (1978), Selected poems (1980), Year of the dog (1982), Mihi (1987), Short back & sideways (1992), Deep river talk (1993), Shape-shifter (1997), Piggy-back moon (2002) me te Oooooo......!!! (2005). I whakawhiwhia a Shape-shifter me Piggy-back moon ki te tohu o te motu mō te toikupu i te tau 1999 me te tau 2002.
I tuhia e Tuwhare ētahi pakipoto i waenganui o ana rā mahi, ko tētahi, a ‘Taniwha’, i mahia hei kiriata poto, ka kīia ko Eel. Ko tana whakaari roa, On ilkla moor b’aht’at, te In the wilderness without a hat rānei, e tirotiro ana ki te tuakiri Māori i te ao kāhore he Māori, i runga i te titiro ki te tangihanga, ka puta i runga i te whakamihi nui i ngā tau o te 1980.
I te tānga tuatahi mai, i kīia ngā mahi a Tuwhare he tahuri kē i ngā toikupu o Aotearoa o mua. Nāna ngā toikupu tuatahi ki te titiro ki ngā take a ngāi Māori, me te rere o ngā kaupapa mai i te whenua ki tai, ki te aroha, ki te mautohe me te murunga whenua, te murunga o te taonga tuku iho. I haere tonu te whakamātau a Tuwhare i te taera me te reo, i ana tau tōmuri he maha ana toikupu i rite ki te whakawhiti kōrero, ki te kōrero noa. I tuhi ia mā te hunga o Aotearoa i runga i te kore e whakaaro ki a ia anō, ka mutu, ko te nuinga o ana toikupu i whai kupu tāpiri mā te hunga pānui o tāwāhi, i te kaha whakaurua atu o te whakaaro ahurea o konei. I paingia anō ngā toikupu a Tuwhare e te tangata noa o Aotearoa i ngā kaupapa pāpori me ngā wāhi e mōhio ana rātou.
Ko ngā taumata i ekea e Hone Tuwhare te kaitito toikupu, i whakamihia ki te tohu me te hōnore maha. Ka rua āna nohonga hei Robert Burns Fellow ki te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou (1969 me te 1974); hei Hocken Fellow (ki te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou, 1983); hei German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Fellow ki (Berlin, 1985) hei Writing Fellow hoki ki Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmakimakaurau (1991). Ka whiwhi ia i te Tohu a te Waka Toi (1991) me tētahi Tahua Kaihautū Kaituhi (1992). I whakawhiwhia ia ki ētahi Tohu Kairangi Mātākōrero hōnore e rua (Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou, 1998, me Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmakimakaurau, 2005).
Ko Tuwhare te tuarua o ngā kaitito toikupu ikeike katoa o Aotearoa, atu i te tau 1999 ki te 2001. I kīia ia e te Arts Foundation ko tētahi o ngā tipua 10 o te ao toi o Aotearoa i te tau 2003, te tau i whiwhi ai rātou ko Michael King, ko Janet Frame i te Tohu a te Pirīmia mō te Literary Achievement, te tau tuatahi i tukua ai ngā tohu nei. Ka whakaritea tētahi kohinga o ana toikupu ki te puoro me te hokona ki te kōpae i te tau 2005, ka mutu, muia ana te whakanuia ōna e te taiopenga toi i Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara i te 2006, me Tāmakimakaurau i te 2007.
Ko Hone Tuwhare tētahi o ngā kaituhi o Aotearoa i tino rongonui, i tino arohaina, i tū mai ki te pūtahitanga o ētahi ahurea e rua, o te ao Māori me te ao Pākehā. I whakamihia a Tuwhare, te kaituhi, mō te pono o ōna whakaaro. I kaha tana whakaari i ana toikupu, kia mataora mai ai mā te tini whāioio i rongo i a ia e pānui ana, i ngā kura me ngā whare hapori, i ngā whare toi, i ngā taiopenga mātākōrero, i ngā pāparakāuta me ngā whare kauwhau mō te roanga atu o ōna rā mahi i tata nei ki te 50 tau.
Ko Tuwhare, te tangata, he tuahangata i aro nuitia. He tangata mina ki te kai, me tana pai ki te tītī me te kaimoana, ko te wāina whero ki te taha. He rawe hoki tana reo waiata, i rawe ki a ia te puoro, ina koa te puoro tautito, he koi anō te karu ki te mahi toi. Ara ake ana tana riri i te makihuhunutanga, i ōna wā he tangata matawhawhati, he āritarita, me tana tiaki tonu i tana noho matatapu. Heoi, i mōhiotia anō tana ngākau atawhai, tana ngākau marae, tana wairua ngahau me tana ngākau aroha. I whakaohooho ia, ko ia anō i whakaohotia, e tētahi kāhui kaituhi, kaipuoro, ringatoi, me te tangata mātauranga o Aotearoa nei, puta atu ki tāwāhi. I āhuareka anō ki a Tuwhare te whakaako me te mahi ngātahi ki te hunga rangatahi.
I te tau 1992 ka hokona e Tuwhare tētahi koroua whare e titiro iho ana ki te moana i Kākā Point i te tahatika ki te tonga o Ōtākou, ka noho huna ki te tuhi. Ko tana tāpoinga whakamutunga, i te tau 2004, i whakahoki i a ia ki Te Tai Tokerau. I mate ia i te 16 o Hānuere 2008 ki Ōtepoti, ka tanumia ki tētahi puketai, ki te urupā o tana whānau e pātata ana ki Kaikohe. E tohua ana tana rua kōiwi e tētahi kōhatu awa i tāraia nei ōna kōrero e tōna hoa, e te kaiwhakairo a Chris Booth.