Hone Kouka (Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Kahungunu) is an acclaimed Maori writer, winner of the Bruce Mason Award (1992) and multiple Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards.
He has had plays produced in South Africa, Britain, Hawaii, Canada, Australia, New Caledonia, as well as throughout New Zealand, with two plays being translated into French and Russian.
Hone has published five books and co-founded theatre production house Tawata Productions, producing the works of emerging and established Maori and tauiwi playwrights.
He has worked as Development Executive at the New Zealand Film Commission and in the Radio New Zealand Drama department.
Hone became a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Contemporary Maori Theatre in June 2009.