Authors

An artist and curator, Bushra Junaid was born in Montreal to Jamaican and Nigerian parents, and raised in St. John's, NL. She has exhibited her work across Canada, curated numerous exhibitions, and illustrated Adwoa Badoe's Nana's Cold Days (Groundwood Books, 2009). She lives and works in Toronto, Ontario.

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Tim Koelmeyer is a retired surgeon and forensic pathologist, retired as associate professor of Forensic pathology at the faculty of medicine at the university of Auckland, New Zealand.He is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS, 1974) and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia. (FRCPA 1980)

Dr Hirini Kaa, of Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu and Rongowhakaata descent, is an historian and an ordained minister in the Anglican Church (like family members before him). He has worked in the social services sector, for the Anglican Church, and for the Ngati Porou iwi. Hirini has extensive television experience, which includes researching, co-writing and presenting the seven-part historical documentary series 'The Prophets' for Maori Television, and he continues to be sought out by media outlets for commentary on a range of subjects.

Jossie Mateohorere (Te Ohorere) Kaa was a Ngāti Porou teacher, editor, writer, and Māori language expert. Over a long career she worked on numerous Māori publications and was also the coordinator for the Ngata Dictionary. She has authored short stories for children under the pen name Oho Kaa and has written levelled readers in Māori as part of the Ngā Kete Kōrero series. Together with Wiremu Kaa, Jossie worked on the first all-Māori language dictionary, Tirohia Kimihia, with a team from Huia Publishers; this dictionary was a finalist in the 2007 Montana New Zealand Book Awards reference category. They edited three collections in te reo Māori with Te Herenga Waka University Press, new editions of which are published in 2024.

Wiremu Kaa was a kaumatua of Ngati Porou, Tuwhakairiora, Te Whanau a Kahu, Hunaara, Ngati Hoko, Hinepare, Ngai Tane, and Takimoana. He worked as a teacher, civil servant in the Education Department, Maori Education Lecturer at Victoria University, publisher and editor. Wiremu was active in the Anglican Church, and a broadcaster in te reo Maori for Te Upoko o Te Ika Radio. Jossie Mateohorere (Te Ohorere) Kaa was a Ngati Porou teacher, editor, writer, and Maori language expert. Over a long career she worked on numerous Maori publications and was also the coordinator for the Ngata Dictionary. She has authored short stories for children under the pen name Oho Kaa and has written levelled readers in Maori as part of the Nga Kete Korero series produced by Huia Publishers. Together, Jossie and Wiremu worked on the first all-Maori language dictionary, Tirohia Kimihia, with a team from Huia Publishers; this dictionary was a finalist in the 2007 Montana New Zealand Book Awards reference category. They have edited three collections in te reo Maori with Te Herenga Waka Press, new editions of which are forthcoming in 2024.

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Simone Kaho is a Tongan and Pakeha poet, creative non-fiction writer, and director. Her first poetry collection Lucky Punch was published in 2016. She has a master's degree in poetry from Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington's International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) and was awarded the IIML 2022 Emerging Pasifika writer in residence. Simone directed the 2019 web series 'Conversations' for E-Tangata and now works as a writer/director for Tagata Pasifika. She is an active voice in Alison Mau's #metooNZ project.

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Jade Kake (Nga puhi - Nga ti Hau me Te Parawhau, Te Whakato hea, Te Arawa) is director and founder of Matakohe Architecture and Urbanism and has a Master of Architecture degree. She is also a writer of fiction and non-fiction. Jade has written Rebuilding the Kāinga – Lessons from Te Ao Hurihuri, and chapters in collections about architecture and design and has also written for Stuff, The Spinoff, The Pantograph Punch, ArchitectureNOW and Metro. She has won awards for architectural writing, received the Emerging Māori Writer’s Residency at the Michael King Writers Centre in 2019, and received the Copyright Licensing New Zealand and New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa Writers’ Award in 2021. In 2020, she was a participant on Te Papa Tupu writers’ mentoring programme.