Terri Te Tau
Terri Te Tau (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne ki Wairarapa) is a writer and artist. She is the Emerging Māori Writer in Residence at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) for 2026. Terri is a member of the art collective Mataaho, whose work won the Golden Lion at the 2024 Venice Biennale.
She completed a PhD in Creative Arts from Massey University in 2015.
Her research centres on connections between customary and historical Māori narratives, science, speculative fiction and the environment. Terri’s writing has appeared in a range of publications.
Her short story Hīkoi Whetū won the Emerging Māori category of the Sunday Star Times short story competition in 2024. Terri’s first novel, a speculative and historical fiction titled The Valley of Unlikely Acquaintances, is scheduled for publication with Spoor Books in 2026.
Photo credit Rebecca McMillan
Verb Readers & Writers Festival 2026 events Terri Te Tau features in:
Verb Showcase: If This Finds You
Carrying the Past Forward