Author Spotlight Q&A: Ataria Sharman

Ataria Sharman (Tapuika, Ngāpuhi) is an editor and writer. Born and raised in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, she now lives in Hikurangi, Whangārei, Te Tai Tokerau. Ataria has a Master of Arts and spent a year researching mana wahine and atua wāhine and interviewing Māori women about their experiences with atua wāhine. The manuscript for her children’s […]

Author Spotlight Q&A: Emma Wehipeihana

Dr. Emma Wehipeihana (Ngāti Tukorehe, Ngāti Porou) is an award-winning writer, broadcaster and political commentator. Her podcast on Māori health equity, Getting Better: A Year in the Life of a Māori Medical Student (RNZ/Bird of Paradise Productions) won the Voyager Best Narrative Podcast of the Year in 2021. In 2020 she won the Opinion Writer […]

Author Spotlight Q&A: Ruby Solly

Ruby Solly (Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe) is a writer, musician and taonga pūoro practitioner living in Pōneke. Her first book of poetry, Tōku Pāpā, was published in 2021 and longlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Her second book, The Artist, is published in 2023. She has had poetry published in Aotearoa, Australia, […]

Author Spotlight Q&A: Linda Tuhiwai Smith

Linda Tuhiwai Smith (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou) is a distinguished Professor at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. She is a leading scholar and researcher in indigenous studies, indigenous education and kaupapa Māori research and has written many publications. She was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2013 for her services […]

Author Spotlight Q&A: Isla Huia

isla huia, writer, wearing a black hat sitting at a table, with crossed arms

Isla Huia (Te Āti Haunui a-Pāpārangi, Uenuku) is a te reo Māori teacher, writer and musician. Her work has been published in journals such as Catalyst and Awa Wāhine. She has performed at the national finals of Rising Voices Youth Poetry Slam and the National Poetry Slam, as well as at Christchurch’s Word Festival. Isla […]

Author Spotlight Q&A: Naomi Toilalo

author naomi toilalo in front of a banquet of food

Naomi Toilalo (Ngāti Porou) is a Māmā, wife, former Māori Television presenter, she once was a contestant on TVNZ’s Great Kiwi Bake Off – and now she’s the proud author of Aotearoa’s hottest bilingual cookbook of the summer WhānauKai. Photo credit: Sarah Henderson   Sometimes writers talk about their book as if it is something they’ve […]

Author Spotlight Q&A: Emma Hislop

author emma hislop standing in front of a garden

Emma Hislop (Kāi Tahu), is a Taranaki based writer and māmā, whose debut collection of short stories, Ruin, is published this month by Te Herenga Waka University Press. Photo credit: Ebony Lamb   Congratulations on the launch of Ruin! What is Ruin about and who should read it? Kā mihi nui ki a koe. I think of […]

Author Spotlight Q&A: essa may ranapiri

Photo credit: Brett Phibbs   essa may ranapiri (Ngaati Wehi Wehi, Ngaati Raukawa-ki-te-Tonga, Te Arawa, Ngaati Pukeko, Ngaati Takatāpui, Clan Gunn) is a poet who lives on Ngaati Wairere whenua. Their first book of poetry, ransack (VUP), was longlisted for the Ockham Awards 2020. They were the featured writer in Poetry New Zealand Yearbook 2020 […]

Author Spotlight Q&A: Nicole Titihuia Hawkins

Photo credit: Trinity Thompson-Browne   Nicole Titihuia Hawkins (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa, Ngāti Pāhauwera) is a writer, teacher, red lipstick enthusiast and proud māmā. She lives in Te Awakairangi and runs side hustles with her besties in her spare time. Her collection, Whai, won the Jessie Mackay Prize for best first book of Poetry […]

Author Spotlight Q&A: Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall

Photo by Ebony Lamb   Kōtuku (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, W̱SÁNEĆ) currently lives on the Kāpiti Coast but has roots in both Aotearoa and Turtle Island. Her Adam Foundation Prize-winning novel that grew out of the gap between these places is a genre-defying work that bridges islands, generations, cultures, and histories.   Sometimes writers talk […]