Yas Queen

Tusiata Avia is an internationally acclaimed poet, and performer. She has published 4 collections of poetry and 5 children’s books. Her first book of poems, Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, was also adapted for the stage; most notably off-Broadway, where it took out the 2019 Fringe Encore Series Outstanding Production of the Year.

Tusiata was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to poetry and the arts in 2021. Her most recent book, The Savage Coloniser Book won the 2021 Best Book of Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Maxine Beneba Clarke is the author of over 14 books for adults and children, including the ABIA and Indie award-winning short fiction collection Foreign Soil, the critically acclaimed, bestselling memoir The Hate Race, the self-illustrated picture book When We Say Black Lives Matter, and the CBCA Honour Book The Patchwork Bike (illustrated by Van T Rudd). Her poetry collections include Carrying the World, How Decent Folk Behave, It’s the Sound of the Thing: 100 new poems for young people and Stuff I'm Not Sorry For: 99 more poems for young people.