Mei-Lin Te Puea Hansen

Mei-Lin Te Puea Hansen is a writer who describes herself as “tāngata whenua, an immigrant, and a settler-coloniser all at once". The daughter of a Chinese-Māori mother and a Pākehā father, Hansen’s work explores the unique tensions and relationships that come with this whakapapa. She is best known for her play The Mooncake and the Kūmara, which draws on the story of how her goong-goong and nan met in the market gardens in Stratford in 1920s Aotearoa.

Mooncake had its world premiere in 2015 as part of Auckland Arts Festival. The work sold out three weeks before opening and was supported by the Performing Arts Network of New Zealand (PANNZ) to go on a national tour following its debut.

Hansen was also selected as one of the writers on the anthology film Kāinga (2022), a project that showcased Asian filmmakers in Aotearoa through eight ten-minute short films exploring the idea of ‘home’. Working with director Julie Zhu, Hansen’s film revolves around a young Māori-Chinese girl who brings together both sides of her family at the deathbed of her Chinese grandfather.

In addition to her writing practice, Hansen has worked as Publications Editor and Production Assistant at Auckland Arts Festival and Auckland Writers Festival (2010–2014) and Senior Content & Publications Editor at Auckland Arts Festival (2014–2017). In 2018, she left her role to study te reo Māori full-time at Te Wānanga Takiura.

Hansen has a PhD in Māori theatre from the University of Auckland. Her thesis, 'Aroha's Granddaughters: Representations of Māori women in Māori theatre and drama 1980-2000' (2005) speaks to the evolving depth and nuance seen across this period due to greater self-determination and the blooming of practitioners like Rena Owen, Riwia Brown, Roma Potiki and Briar Grace-Smith. She currently works as a teacher aide/kaiāwhina tautoko.

RNZ interview with Wallace Chapman

The Wireless interview

'Aroha's Granddaughters: Representations of Māori women in Māori theatre and drama 1980-2000', PhD thesis, 2005

2022 — Kāinga

2015 — The Mooncake and the Kūmara