A woman standing in front of a wall of framed artwork, smiling, wearing a shirt with an old-school comic strip print.

Tusiata Avia

Tusiata Avia is a poet, writer and performer. She has published 6 books of poetry. She is also the author of children’s books, short films, television series, radio documentary, and plays. Her iconic play Wild Dogs Under My Skirt showed Off-Broadway in 2020, where it won the Fringe Encore Outstanding Production of the Year.

Tusiata has received a number of awards during her 25 year career, including:

  • 2024 Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement: Poetry
  • 2024 Creative New Zealand Pacific Senior Artist Award
  • 2023 Distinguished Alumni at Te Herenga Waka University of Victoria
  • 2020 Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to poetry and the arts

The Savage Coloniser Book won the 2020 Best Book of Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. The stage version, The Savage Coloniser Show, won New Aotearoa Play of the Year in 2024 at the Wellington Theatre Awards and became the centre of a political controversy in Aotearoa New Zealand.