Hinemoana Baker was born in 1968 in Christchurch, raised in Whakatane and Nelson, and has lived for more than 20 years in Wellington and Kapiti. She descends from the Ngai Tahu tribe in the South Island, and from Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Toa and Te Ati Awa in the North Island. Both of her parents also have non-Maori heritage, from England and Bavaria. The author of two collections of poetry, Hinemoana also edits the online journal of Whitireia New Zealand's Creative Writing Programme, and co-edited the anthology Kaupapa: New Zealand Poets, World Issues (The Development Resource Center, 2007). She has performed and read internationally and has released five CDs of music and poetry. In 2009 she was the Arts Queensland Poet in Residence; in 2010 she was one of thirty-eight writers in residence at the University of Iowa International Writing Programme; and in 2014 she is writer in residence at Victoria University in Wellington.