Pōkai Tuhi

Te Kahu Rolleston (Ngāi Te Rangi) is a spoken word poet and educator from Tauranga. He has been called 'The Taniwha of Slam Poetry'. His work often honours his ancestors, the land, and the ongoing Māori struggles for Tino Rangatiratanga and socio-economic betterment. His poetry speaks to what it means to be Māori, combining mythology, history and modern politics. Te Kahu was the 2014 winner of the National Poetry Slam, and in 2015 he attended The Banff Centre’s Indigenous Writing Programme alongside Witi Ihimaera. He is currently working on his first published work with the Māori Literature Trust's Te Papa Tupu incubator.

Brianne Te Paa (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whātua, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki and Te Whānau-a-Apanui) is an award-winning children’s author based north-west of Auckland and is currently working as Deputy Principal at Kaipara College. Brianne published two books in 2022 with Huia Publishers: How My Koro Became A Star and Kua Whetūrangitia A Koro.

J. Wiremu Kane (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Toro, Ngāti Manu, Te Mahurehure) is an award-winning author from the Waikato. He has been published in numerous journals and collections such as Middle Distance, Huia Short Stories 14, Hiwa and Landfall. J. Wiremu was the 2022 Emerging Māori Writer in Residence at the IIML (Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington). Through his writing, he aims to expose the still gaping wound colonisation has wrought on this whenua and its people.

Kiri-Michelle Mohi (Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Te Arawa) is an author, dual diagnosis practitioner, and social worker based in Te Puke. She has published seven children’s books in the ‘Real Raw Resources’ series under her own imprint, Fruits of Te Arawa Publishing. Her books aim to help tamariki find their foundations and give them stability.

Maria Samuela is an Aotearoa New Zealand writer of Cook Islands descent. She holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. Her work traverses short stories, children’s writing, and a forthcoming novel, and is predominantly centred on the Cook Island diaspora. Her stories have been translated into five languages.

Emele Ugavule is a Tokelauan Fijian storyteller. Her research and practice area of interest is Oceanic Indigenous-led storytelling, working across live performance, screen & digital media as a writer, director, creative producer, performer, educator and mentor. Her work explores creative processes and outcomes grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing, and nurturing the vā where embodiment, cultural expression, digitisation and neuroscience intersect.

Danielle Kionasina Dilys Thomson is a Samoan/Welsh writer, poet, journalist, kaiako, and multidisciplinary artist. Her writing has been published in Salient and Bad Apple. Danielle is the founder and director of Tagata Atamai and the Moana Creative Business Network, which aim to amplify the voices of the Moana through community, culture and creativity.

Inangaro Vakaafi is of Niuean and Kuki Airani descent, and is a passionate advocate for Vagahau Niue. She is an experienced journalist who has worked as a reporter for the Broadcasting Corporation of Niue. Inangaro now works as a radio producer for the Pacific Media Network, and is also a part of a team of passionate Vagahau Niue advocates teaching Vagahau Niue with the Pasifika Education Centre (PEC). She is a founding member of the Pacific Climate Warriors.