Ariana Tikao is a writer and musician of Kāi Tahu descent. She writes waiata, poetry and creative non-fiction exploring themes relating to her Kāi Tahu identity and mana wahine, often drawing upon historical kōrero from her ancestors. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the IIML (2022) and has had poetry and creative nonfiction published in Turbine Kapohau, Landfall, SWAMP, Awa Wahine, Takahē, West Trestle Review, and Tupuranga. Her book Mokorua was published by AUP in 2022 (co-authored with photographer Matt Calman), and her book Te Rā: The Māori Sail was published by the Christchurch Art Gallery in 2023 (illustrated by Mat Tait). She was an Ursula Bethell Writer in Residence at the University of Canterbury in 2023, where she worked on her first collection of poetry.

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