> Skip to content
  • Published: 1 August 2023
  • ISBN: 9781776950737
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $14.99

Once Were Warriors




A New Zealand classic, this novel is a raw and powerful portrayal of Maori in New Zealand society.

This classic has been released in the Popular Penguin format to mark 50 years of publishing in New Zealand. The format reaches further back to 1935, when Allen Lane founded Penguin Books with a clear vision: ‘We believed in the existence of a vast reading public for intelligent books at a low price, and staked everything on it.’


Ground-breaking.
Original.
Heart-rending.
Most talked about book in New Zealand, ever.
Adapted into a blockbuster movie.
Still in print three decades later.

  • Published: 1 August 2023
  • ISBN: 9781776950737
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $14.99

Also by Alan Duff

See all

Praise for Once Were Warriors

At last a Maori writer has managed to hang out all the dirty Maori washing with some kind of dignity and at the same time place the blame where it belongs. No other Maori writer has achieved this to the same degree - small loads of dirty washing yes, but not the front fence covered in rags and holey underwear. Most of the Maori writers have been careful not to hang it out in case the Pakehas would see it and use it against them. In the backyard - amongst themselves, it's family and it's okay.

Bruce Stewart, NZ Books