Hone Kouka

Hone Kouka: Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungungu, Ngati Raukawa, was born in Balclutha in 1968, and raised in Rangiora, the potiki of a large whanau. In Dunedin he attended King’s High School and Otago University, graduating in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. In that year he also co-ordinated the first production of John Broughton’s: Te Hara – The Sin. He went on to study in Wellington at Te Kura Toi Whakaari o Aotearoa: The New Zealand Drama School, graduating in 1990.

Hone is an acclaimed writer, winner of the Bruce Mason Award and multiple Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards, he has had plays produced in South Africa, Britain, Hawaii, Canada, Australia, New Caledonia, as well as throughout New Zealand. Kouka has written for most mediums and published five books. Kouka founded Theatre and Film production house Tawata Productions, producing the works of emerging Maori writers, including the controversial and what remains. He also works as Development Executive at the New Zealand Film Commission.