Hone Kouka

He has written 13 plays, which have been staged in New Zealand and worldwide including Canada, South Africa, New Caledonia and Britain.

In 2009, Kouka was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to contemporary Māori theatre.

Born in Balclutha in 1968, Kouka was educated at King's High School, Dunedin, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Otago in 1988.

[4] He was the partner of fellow playwright and actress, director and writer Nancy Brunning (1971–2019), with whom he had a daughter, the singer-songwriter Mā.

[5] Kouka's 1994 play Nga Tangata Toa (The Warrior People) is heralded as a masterpiece in New Zealand theatre.

[13] In the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours, Kouka was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to contemporary Māori theatre.