Kawai: For Such a Time as This is the remarkable first novel by respected historian Dr. Monty Soutar, in a series that reveals the role of colonisation in shaping Aotearoa New Zealand, balanced with an honest appraisal of the country in pre-colonial times.
Dr. Monty Soutar (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti Kahungunu) has worked as a Senior Historian for the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Director of the Tairawhiti Museum in Gisborne and as the World War One Historian in Residence at Auckland War Memorial Museum. In 2015 he was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and historical research. He continues to serve on the Waitangi Tribunal. Dr. Soutar is the author of Whītiki Whiti Whiti E! Māori in the First World War and Ngā Tama Toa - The Price of Citizenship: C Company 28 (Māori) Battalion 1939-1945. In 2021 he was awarded the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer's Fellowship to write the Kāwai series. Monty lives in Gisborne with his wife and youngest daughter.
