Dr Mere Whaanga is the first Māori writer to be awarded the prestigious Michael King Writer's Fellowship. The two year award provides the writer a grant of $100,000 to enable the research for their next book Rongoā - Healt the Land, Health the People. The academic, historian and children's author draws on the local stories of Taiporutu as the theme for much of her work. In a sit down chat with Te Ahi Kaa, she talks about farming life, heading back to study as a mature student, and the history of her iwi and hapū.