Professor Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku

Over the past 50 years Emeritus Professor Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku has been one of the most influential Maori academics and writers. In 1981 she became the first Maori woman to receive a PHD from a New Zealand University and was at the vanguard of women's and gay liberation movements dating back to the 1970s. Later this month she'll speak at Te Toi Mahara at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds which will bring together artists and cultural leaders - before she joins fellow writer Patricia Grace on stage at Wellington's VERB festival next month.