Jade Kake has a Master of Architecture and specialises in designing communities and housing based on a traditional model of living known as papakainga.
She's the founder and director of Matakohe Architecture and Urbanism, but more recently has added fiction and non-fiction writing to her repertoire.
She's co-authored a biography, Rewi: Ata haere, kia tere, about architect Rewi Thompson, looking at his profound impact on Maori design.
Now her first novel - Checkerboard Hill, has just been released.