Hone Kouka
Hone Kouka, of Paekakariki, received the Insignia of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to contemporary Māori theatre. He has written 13 plays and his plays have been produced all over the world, including in Canada and South Africa. In 1996, he was commissioned to write Waiora Te U Kai Po (The Homeland) for the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts which toured nationally and internationally and has become one of New Zealand's best selling plays. He followed this with the sequel Home Fires, and, in 2004 he completed the trilogy with The Prophet. Other plays he has written include the popular Ngā Tangata Toa (The Warrior People), Whakakotahi, He Waka, and Five Angels. He co-wrote the screen play for the television feature Ngā Tohu: Signatures in 2000.