Tama Wise

Tama Wise is a Maori author of Ngapuhi descent. He was influenced by growing up with hip-hop culture, as one of a generation of urban Polynesians searching for identity. Coming to writing in his teens, he was quickly drawn to what little fiction he could find that addressed race, sexuality, and poverty in an urban setting. Since then he has told stories of this world and others, weaving love, life, and a Maori view of things. Tama has been published both locally in New Zealand and abroad, with...See more

Tama Wise is a Maori author of Ngapuhi descent. He was influenced by growing up with hip-hop culture, as one of a generation of urban Polynesians searching for identity. Coming to writing in his teens, he was quickly drawn to what little fiction he could find that addressed race, sexuality, and poverty in an urban setting. Since then he has told stories of this world and others, weaving love, life, and a Maori view of things. Tama has been published both locally in New Zealand and abroad, with short stories published in the anthology Huia Short Stories 7: Contemporary Maori Fiction, and more recently the Yellow Medicine Review. He lives in Auckland with his partner and three budgies. See less