Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank

Who is Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank?

Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank was a Māori poet and teacher. Born and raised in Rangitukia in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island, she was one of a small group of Māori writers writing in English during the 1950s. In 1959 she was awarded a special Katherine Mansfield Memorial award for her essay Ko taku kumara hei wai-u mo taku whanau. She was married to Swiss-born Pius Blank for 44 years and had two children, Marino and Anton. For the last ten years of her working life Arapera taught te reo at Auckland Girls' Grammar School where the girls knew her as Ma Blank.