Ink & Intrepid: A Glimpse into the Grit of Hine Toa

Winner of the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Award for General Non-Fiction, Hine Toa: A Story of Bravery by Ngāhuia Te Awekotuku is a searing memoir of resistance, identity, and survival. A 1960s Rotorua growing up, Ngāhuia was a bookish, rebellious girl seeking acceptance in a world of "boiling mud and hissing steam," raised by strong wāhine but marked down as "Miss Too Big for Her Boots.". Her life threads through family violence, trauma, and marginalisation of Māori and queer voices, but also through activism as a foundation member of both the Women's and Gay Liberation movements and Ngā Tamatoa.

 

Te Awekotuku's story is political and personal, spanning the violence and beauty of her childhood to the frontlines of activism, and ultimately questioning how much has actually changed for LGBTQ+ and Māori New Zealanders. Hine Toa is an ode to courage, hope, and the power of speaking out.

 

Source: NZ Herald, NZ Review of Books, Goodreads