essa may ranapiri (Ngaati Raukawa, Ngaati Puukeko, Te Arawa and Clan Gunn) is a poet, writer and academic living in Kirikiriroa Hamilton.

They have published a large amount of poetry, reviews, and essays over the past eight years of working as a writer, most notably their two poetry collections, ransack (2019), and ECHIDNA (2022), and a forthcoming third collection, Puke, to be published in 2026.

They will use this residency opportunity to work on their first novel, Te Rama Tuna | Eeling by Torchlight, a coming-of-age story about two young trans Māori friends/lovers.