Arapera Blank
Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank (7 June 1932 – 2002) was a Māori poet and teacher. She was of Ngati Porou and Ngati Kahungungu descent. Early life and family. Blank was born in Rangitukia on New Zealand's East Cape. Her father was the Reverend Tipi Whenua Kaa, from Rangitukia, who was vicar of the Waiapu parish and her mother Hohipene Kaa (formerly Whaanga) was from Wairoa. Blank was one of 12 children: her siblings include the writer and te reo advocate Keri Kaa, Anglican church leader and child welfare advocate Hone Kaa, and actor Wi Kuki Kaa. She was  married to Swiss-born Pius Blank for 44 years and had two children, Marino and Anton. Career. Blank was one of a small group of Māori writers writing in English during the 1950s, and one of New Zealand's first bilingual poets. She was educated at Queen Victoria School for Māori Girls and studied anthropology at the University of Auckland. In 1959 Blank was awarded a special Katherine Mansfield Memorial Award for her essay "Ko Taku Kumara Hei Wai-u Mo Tama" which had been published the previous year in "Te Ao Hou / The New World". Barbara Brookes, author of  the recent book "A History of New Zealand Women", describes Blank's work as offering "insights into Māori culture, feminism, and the dual Māori-Pakeha world she lived in". She was a teacher for 25 years, including teaching te reo Māori and social studies at Glenfield College and Auckland Girls' Grammar School; her pupils knew her as "Ma Blank".