Reina Whaitiri (Kāi Tahu) was born to a Pākeha mother and a Māori father. She has taught English at the University of Hawai’i and The University of Auckland, co-edited two volumes of poetry by Māori and Pacific Island writers and is an editor and researcher of Māori and Pacific literature. She currently lives in Auckland with her partner, Albert Wendt. Her most recent book is the co-edited anthology Mauri Ola: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English II (AUP 2010).