Hinemoana Baker

Poet and musician Hinemoana Baker was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, and raised in Whakatane and Nelson. Baker’s parents have Māori and Pākehā ancestry, which has influenced her writing and work. Baker earned a BA and an MA from Victoria University, where she was also the Wellington Writer in Residence in 2014. She authored the poetry collections mātuhi / needle (2004), kōiwi / bone (2010), and waha / mouth (2014). Her work has been anthologized in The Best of Best New Zealand Poems (2011) and The Auckland University Press Anthology of New Zealand Literature (2012), among others. On her work, David Eggleton says that there is “sensuousness reflected in the verse, but in a conflicted way—undercut by a sense of smoldering emotion ... as though an earlier vulnerability has left the poet bruised by experience.”

Baker was the 2009 Arts Queensland Poet in Residence and received the 2015–16 Creative New Zealand Berlin Writer’s Residency. She has taught at the International Institute of Modern Letters.