
Alan Duff is a New Zealand novelist and newspaper columnist. He is best known as the author of the novel Once Were Warriors (1990), which was made into a film of the same name in 1994.

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Harawira "Wira" Tiri Gardiner is a soldier, public servant and writer. He is Māori, of Ngati Awa, Ngati Pikiao, Whakatohea and Te Whanau-a-Apanui descent.

Briar Grace-Smith is a writer of scripts, screenplays and short stories from New Zealand. She has worked as an actor and writer with the Maori theatre cooperative Te Ohu Whakaari and Maori theatre company He Ara Hou. Early plays Don't Call Me Bro and Flat Out Brown, were first performed at the Taki Rua Theatre in Wellington in 1996. Waitapu, a play written by Grace-Smith, was devised by He Ara Hou and performed by the group on the Native Earth Performing Arts tour in Canada in 1996.

Patricia Frances Grace is a New Zealand Māori writer of novels, short stories, and children's books.

Rowley Habib, also known as Rore Hapipi, was a New Zealand poet, playwright, and writer of short stories and television scripts.

Whiti Hereaka is a New Zealand playwright, novelist and screenwriter and a barrister and solicitor. She has held a number of writing residencies and appeared at literary festivals in New Zealand and overseas, and several of her books and plays have been shortlisted for or won awards. Her book Bugs won an Honour Award in the 2014 New Zealand Post Awards for Children and Young Adults. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler, generally known as Witi Ihimaera, is a New Zealand author. He was the first published Māori novelist.

Pei Te Hurinui Jones was a New Zealand tribal leader, interpreter, land officer, writer, translator and genealogist. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngati Maniapoto iwi. He was born in Harataunga, Thames/Coromandel, New Zealand, on 9 September 1898. Jones had very limited formal education and was largely self-taught. The famous Waikato Kingitanga leader, Te Puea, referred to Jones and his brother Mick as "those bloody Hurai" (Jews), as their father, Daniel Lewis, was Jewish.

Hoani Turi Te Whatahoro Jury was a New Zealand Ngāti Kahungunu scholar, recorder and interpreter. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi. He was born in Wairarapa, New Zealand on 4 February 1841. His mother was Te Aitu-o-te-rangi Jury and his father John Milsome Jury, an Englishman.

Hamuera Tamahau Mahupuku was a New Zealand tribal leader, runholder, assessor and newspaper proprietor. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi. He was born in the Wairarapa, New Zealand in c.1842.

Tina Makereti is a New Zealand novelist, essayist, and short story writer, editor and creative writing teacher. Her work has been widely published and she has been the recipient of writing residencies in New Zealand and overseas. Her book Once Upon a Time in Aotearoa, won the inaugural fiction prize at the Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards in 2011 and Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings won the Ngā Kupu Ora Aotearoa Māori Book Award for Fiction in 2014. She lives on the Kapiti Coast, New Zealand.

Sir "Sidney" Hirini Moko Haerewa Mead is a New Zealand anthropologist, historian, artist, teacher, writer and prominent Māori leader. Initially training as a teacher and artist, Mead taught in many schools in the East Coast and Bay of Plenty regions, and later served as principal of several schools. After earning his PhD in 1968, he taught anthropology in several universities abroad. He returned to New Zealand in 1977 and established the first Māori studies department in the country. Mead later became a prominent Māori advocate and leader, acting in negotiations on behalf of several tribes and sitting on numerous advisory boards. He has also written extensively on Māori culture. He is currently the chair of the council of Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.

Margaret Pattison Staples-Browne, often known as Maggie Papakura or Mākereti Papakura, was a New Zealand guide, entertainer and ethnographer. Of Pākehā and Māori descent, she was of Te Arawa and Tūhourangi iwi.

Jacqueline Cecilia Sturm was a New Zealand poet, short story writer and librarian.

Robert Sullivan is a Māori writer from New Zealand.

Hone Tuwhare was a noted Māori New Zealand poet. He is closely associated with The Catlins in the Southland region of New Zealand, where he lived for the latter part of his life.