Witi Ihimaera
Ihimaera was born in 1944 in New Zealand and it is there that he grew up. His hometown is Gisborne, a town located on the North Island. Like a significant portion of the population there, he is of Maori descent. He sees his cultural background as having a large impact on his writing, and many of his works have autobiographical elements that deal with the dynamics between Maori and European cultures.
His educational background mirrors those dynamics. He first took a few years of his...