Cassandra Barnett (Raukawa, Ngāti Huri, Ngāti Pākehā) lives in Ngaio, Te Whanganui-a-Tara with her 7-year-old son Izuba. She writes fiction and poetry about culture, whenua, power, voice and te ao Māori. Her work is published in Landfall, Turbine Kapohau, Brief, OraNui, Black Marks on the White Page, Huia Short Stories 13 and Te Rito o te Harakeke: A Collection of Writing for Ihumātao and has been recorded for broadcast by Radio NZ. She has further nonfiction writings in many arts publications. Cassandra has a PhD on contemporary art and criticism in Aotearoa (Auckland University), and an MA in creative writing (Victoria University). When not working, writing or parenting she can be found planting, weeding and obsessively checking in with the moon!
Read Cassandra’s introduction to the issue here